Dear readers,
This week, Yale Climate Connections is exploring the humorous side of the climate story. The cartoons and features we’re publishing today through Friday will examine the bizarre, unexpected, and delightfully weird side of climate change through the eyes of stand-up comedians, moviemakers, podcasters, writers, and cartoonists.
Why Humor Week? We all know that climate change is a grim topic. But as with every social problem, people are responding to the crisis with a wide spectrum of emotions, including anger, grief, determination, hope — and in some cases, humor. As journalists, we know that if we just focus on the gloom and doom, we’re missing a lot of the story.
Humor Week is also an experiment. We want to know what you think about the cartoons, videos, and stories you’ll see here this week. Like them or hate them, we hope you’ll share your feedback with us. If we get rave reviews, we’ll start offering more humor-related content in the future. And if you boo us, we’ll take the humor stuff and leave the stage quietly.
Many thanks to cartoonist Tom Toro, who did key behind-the-scenes organizing for this week’s cartoon collection. Thanks also go to editors Sam Harrington and Pearl Marvell and all of the writers and sources whose work we’re showcasing this week.
— Sara