Ranga Yogeshwar on Climate Communication, Optimism, and the 2021 Floods

Science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar has spent nearly four decades explaining climate change on German public broadcasting. In 2021, severe rainfall destroyed parts of his own home during the so-called flood summer, giving him direct experience of the consequences of global warming. Rather than adopting a doom-laden outlook, Yogeshwar argues for a different approach: less moralizing, more pragmatism, and confidence that change is possible. He describes constant predictions of apocalypse as irritating. In a conversation with der Freitag, he discusses where his optimism comes from, linking it to his early years as a television presenter and to his childhood in India. The interview was conducted by Lilli Zenth.