This is NPR's life kit.

It's Earth Week, and let's not dance around it.

Being an Earthling isn't easy these days.

Flash floods and devastating earthquakes,

extreme heat and shrinking ecosystems and rising sea levels

and raging forest fires.

No matter where you are in the planet,

the effects of the climate crisis are vast and real.

They're a constant source of big worry and fear for most

and big struggles for many.

It can be easy to feel hopeless amid so many compounding disasters

or frustrated by the snail slow pace of change.

And it's true.

Individual action has its limits,

but it's not too late to come together and make a real difference.

According to a recent report from the UN,

the world can still avoid the most extreme dangers of the climate crisis.

If, collectively, nations can work together

to embrace the solutions and technology needed to cut emissions rapidly.

Again, to be clear,

we're not putting solving the climate crisis on you, listener.

That's done by governments and policies,

...