We are living — to transpose the well-worn phrase — in the worst of times and the best of times.

Despite the consensus of Donald Trump and his cabinet of denialists, the world’s climate is changing rapidly and radically.

From hellish wildfires in western Canada to the largest die-off of coral ever recorded on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef — and record heatwaves and floods just about everywhere else — the signs are clear that the planet is being irrevocably altered by humankind.

Researchers