INVENTING THE FUTURE

Climate change can be scary and overwhelming-and it affects everyone's health. But industry, governments, and everyday EVERY DA people are innovating as fast as they can-and there's reason to be hopeful.

- MERYL DAVIDS LANDAU

THERE'S BEEN SO MUCH REPORTING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE IN RECENT YEARS, and experts' alarm is not in the least misplaced. The window for taking critical actions is quickly narrowing, according to the latest report by a group of international experts known as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

But the crisis has fueled impressive and necessary momentum among scientists, organizations, and individuals aiming to slow the planet's warming. "I'm absolutely optimistic. When it comes to innovation, there's a good amount of progress being made," says Anna Stefanopoulou, Ph.D., a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan and an expert on advances in battery energy storage.

Here are some technological breakthroughs and new approaches we can all get behind-and participate into keep the progress rolling and mitigate the impact of climate change as much as we can.

A DRIVING FORCE

► WHAT'S HAPPENING Electric vehicles are projected to make up 10% of those on our roads in the next few years, with cars, light trucks, and buses rapidly going electric.

► WHY IT MATTERS Transportation produces the largest share-some 27% of the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). If enough of us switch to EVs, that could keep more than 10 gigatons of greenhouse gases from being belched into the air in the next few decades, according to environmental nonprofit Project Drawdown.