What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures

Our climate future is not yet written.

What if we act as if we love the future?

Sometimes the bravest thing we can do while facing an existential crisis is imagine life on the other side. This provocative and joyous book maps an inspiring landscape of possible climate futures.

Through clear-eyed essays and vibrant conversations, infused with data, poetry, and art, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson guides us through solutions and possibilities at the nexus of science, policy, culture, and justice. Visionary farmers and financers, architects and advocates help us conjure a flourishing future, one worth the effort it will take—from all of us, with whatever we have to offer—to create.

If you haven’t yet been able to picture a transformed and replenished world—or see yourself, your loved ones, and your community in it— this book is for you. If you haven’t yet found your role in shaping this new world, or you’re not sure how we can actually get there, this book is for you. 

With grace, humor, and humanity, Ayana invites readers to ask and answer this ultimate question, together: What if we get it right?

On imagination, possibility, and transformation with

Paola Antonelli

Xiye Bastida & Ayisha Siddiqa

Jade Begay

Régine Clément

Abigail Dillen

Brian Donahue

Kelly Sims Gallagher

Rhiana Gunn-Wright

Corley Kenna

Bryan C. Lee Jr. & Kate Orff

Franklin Leonard & Adam McKay

Bill McKibben

Kate Marvel

Samantha Montano

Leah Penniman

Colette Pichon Battle

Kendra Pierre-Louis

Judith D. Schwartz

Jigar Shah

Bren Smith

Oana Stanescu

Mustafa Suleyman

Story Locale:Earth

About the Author

Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, policy expert, and writer. She is co-founder of Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank for the future of coastal cities. She co-edited the bestselling climate anthology All We Can Save and co-founded The All We Can Save Project. Recently, Johnson co-authored the Blue New Deal, a roadmap for including the ocean in climate policy. Previously, she was executive director of the Waitt Institute and developed policy at the EPA and NOAA. She was on the Time 100 Next List, was named one of Elle’s 27 Women Leading on Climate, and Outside magazine called her “the most influential marine biologist of our time.”

Author Residence: Brooklyn

Author Hometown: Brooklyn