Climate change is a story. A true story. But a story nonetheless. And, like all narratives, it has a beginning, middle and end.

The story began at the turn of the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution when capitalism compelled our species to begin pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in pursuit of profit. Since then, we’ve increased atmospheric carbon concentration by more than a third, according to NASA.

Then came the advent of consumerism during the mid-20th century, when we doubled down on our demands on the planet to provide us with all the luxuries we didn’t even know we wanted. It was around this time that we started to get wise about our global environmental impacts. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring helped kick off the modern environmental movement. Our first forays into the stars gave us a glimpse of the fragility of this Blue Marble we call home. In 1970, Denis Hayes, who I had the privilege of interviewing a few years back for GreenBiz, organized the first Earth Day. More than a decade later in 1988, the World Meteorological Organization established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change with the support of the United Nations Environmental Programme.

Now nearly two decades into the 21st century, our climate narrative remains uncertain. On the one hand, clean energy innovation continues to advance and the global community has come together to embrace the Paris Agreement on climate change. On the other hand, extreme weather events connected to climate change are devastating communities and economies around the globe, and the Trump Administration and other denialist forces with a monied interest in fossil fuel extraction continue to peddle reactive climate policies.

But this isn’t the end. The finale of our fate hasn’t been written. We still can influence the outcome of this narrative.