5 reasons why you should be hopeful about the future of climate change

In recent years, there has been a lot of news about climate change, and the concerns of experts are not in the least misplaced. The window to take critical action is narrowing fast, according to the latest report by a group of international experts known as Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). But the crisis has spurred impressive and necessary momentum among scientists, organizations and individuals aiming to slow the planet's warming. "I am absolutely optimistic. There's been a lot of progress in terms of innovation," 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 play a part in—to keep progress moving and mitigate the impact of climate change as much as possible.