africa/global: Mixed messages obscure the importance of action

Watching the news, it seems that there's a new environmental crisis occurring almost daily: global warming, pollution, habitat destruction, species depletion and extinction, and much more. The bad news is plentiful and painful. But then, on a fairly regular basis, a nice-looking man pops up and says that everything you are seeing is an exaggeration. The environment is fine. Everything's fine. To the average person, it must be quite confusing. What's going on here? Are the stories on environmental calamity really an exaggeration? The quick answer is no.