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In a catchy\u00a0YouTube video<\/a>, British comedian Jo Brand\u00a0translates a scientist\u2019s long-winded description<\/a>\u00a0of the fossil fuel industry\u2019s role in the climate crisis this way: \u201cWe are paying a bunch of rich dudes 1 trillion dollars a year to f— up our future,\u201d she says. \u201cEven the dinosaurs didn\u2019t subsidize their own extinction.\u00a0Who\u2019s the stupid species now<\/a>?\u201d<\/p>\n Although there is nothing funny about the subject, the way she says it is funny.<\/p>\n She speaks truth to power. She relieves the heaviness of the rhetoric. And she\u2019s dropping f- and s-bombs with a British accent. At the start of the video, Brand comments, \u201cIf people like me have to get involved, you know we\u2019re in deep s—\u201d.<\/p>\n We all need some refreshing levity nowadays \u2013 especially this year.<\/p>\n Around the world,\u00a0voters will be choosing<\/a>\u00a0national leaders\u00a0in countries representing nearly half the human population<\/a>. In many cities, states and counties, those decisions will directly affect how the world deals with climate change. Outcomes, including from another U.S. presidential race with Donald Trump vowing to promote fossil fuels and\u00a0undermine climate policies<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0democracy itself<\/a>, will reverberate across the planet. That\u2019s heavy.<\/p>\n At the same time, the planet just came off its warmest year on record in 2023, and ocean temperatures are still abnormally high. Heavier yet, the\u00a010 hottest years since record-keeping began<\/a>\u00a0have all occurred in the past decade.<\/p>\n Not only does the world need to cool down, it also needs to lighten up. As\u00a0professors who study climate comedy<\/a>, we can tell you that the need for levity is one reason climate comedy works.<\/p>\n For many generations, comedy has been an effective pathway to not only lighten things up but to propose unlikely solutions.<\/p>\n In ancient Greece, comic playwright Aristophanes took on the crisis of his times \u2013 the Peloponnesian War \u2013\u00a0with a comedy<\/a>\u00a0in which women from both sides of the conflict enact a sex strike until their men agree to a peace treaty. As you can imagine, sexual innuendo abounds.<\/p>\n Brand, the British comedian, teamed up with\u00a0climate scientist Mark Maslin<\/a>\u00a0to find novel ways to communicate effectively about the climate crisis. In a video, they\u00a0effectively communicate together<\/a>\u00a0about climate change causes and consequences. Humorously drawing out their contrasting communication styles, they find the funny as Brand pops up with observations like, \u201cIf you liked climate crisis, you\u2019re going to love climate complete f—ing collapse.\u201d<\/p>\nLightening up to engage with tough stuff<\/strong><\/h4>\n