We live in testing times, but there are many reasons to be optimistic

THERE are many who believe, as this decade comes to a close, that the world is going to hell in a handcart. The failure to take dramatic action on climate change, the perceived coarsening of public debate, the rise of instantly transmitted fake news and populist movements that rail against experts and facts are all taken as evidence that humanity is in the grip of a downward spiral. We know you, as readers of New Scientist, share our love of evidence and rational problem-solving. So you probably already know that the facts don't support this narrative. In fact, by most measures, the world is getting better – for humans at least.