2023 Climate Power Rankings: Heat Came to Stay: Mark Gongloff

For most of the centuries humans have despoiled Earth’s climate, the consequences have felt more like a “tomorrow” problem than a “now” problem. That delusion lost much of its power in 2023. Instead of passing the nightmares we’ve created on to children and foreigners, we were increasingly dealing with them ourselves.

Deadly heat waves gripped the world from Beijing to Phoenix. Corals cooked to death right on their reefs. Seeming climate havens caught fire or flooded. Wildfire smoke made people sick from hundreds of miles away.

The silver lining? It’s harder than ever to deny the reality of climate change and the need ...