The Fifteen Types of Doomers

As Sam Mitchell famously said, if you ask 15 doomers to give a definition of what it means to be a doomer, you will get 16 different answers. Or 20. Or even more. In this post I’ve listed 15 of the most famous doomers I could think of to get the list of types of doomers started. I am sure there are plenty more, and each would define yet another new category to extend this article. If a new type of doomer occurs to you, please just include a comment giving the type a pithy title, a short definition, and naming at least one person who fits that type.

And yes, this post is a reaction to all of those crazy strawmen attacks against doomers in recently published books and articles, including the three types of doomers described in “The Language of Climate Politics” by Genevieve Guenther, and most recently the personal attack against me in the newly published “Science Under Siege” by Michael Mann and Peter Hotez. Read these books at your own risk!

Note. This article was written with the assistance of Grok AI.

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1. The Social Media Doomer

The Social Media Doomer is a relentless online chronicler who dissects mainstream climate narratives with a sharp eye for inconsistencies and omissions. They thrive on blogs and social media, exposing what they see as the sanitized version of scientific warnings that fail to convey the full horror of impending collapse. This type rails against institutional denial, accusing scientists, governments, and media of downplaying the severity to avoid panic. They document real-time environmental catastrophes—dying forests, vanishing species, erratic weather—as evidence that the tipping points have already been crossed. They view climate change not as a future threat but as an unfolding apocalypse, where human denial mirrors the very hubris causing it. By amplifying suppressed voices and historical parallels, they prepare audiences for adaptation in a world of loss, insisting that acknowledgment is the first step toward any meaningful response, however futile it may seem.

Example: Gail Zawacki.

Quote: “Today, despite increasingly ominous warnings from the scientists, we’re not taking climate change seriously. In fact, we’re making things much worse.”

Article: “Why Are Climate Scientists Less Than Truthful?”

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2. The Radical Ecologist Doomer

The Radical Ecologist Doomer sees climate change as the inevitable outcome of industrial civilization’s war on nature, advocating for the dismantling of oppressive systems through direct action and cultural revolution. They frame the crisis as a symptom of deeper pathologies: unchecked capitalism, patriarchy, and anthropocentrism that treat the Earth as a resource to exploit. This type rejects incremental reforms or green technologies as distractions, insisting that only a return to indigenous wisdom and biodiversity-respecting lifestyles can avert total collapse—or at least honor the planet in its dying throes. Their worldview is holistic, viewing climate doom as intertwined with social injustices, where the powerful sacrifice the vulnerable. While mourning the loss of wild places, they find purpose in defending what’s left, warning that without radical change, survivors will inherit a barren world. This doomer type embodies fierce love for the more-than-human world, urging us to grieve and fight simultaneously.

Example: Derrick Jensen.

Quote: “They want us to believe that consumer choices are the only way we can change things. But if we accept that then it means that they’ve won.”

Book: “Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet.”

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3. The Anti-Capitalist Doomer

The Anti-Capitalist Doomer posits that climate change is the death knell of neoliberal economics, where profit-driven exploitation has pushed the planet beyond safe limits. They argue that fossil fuel dependency and endless growth models are incompatible with survival, leading to an era of “climate barbarism” marked by inequality, migration crises, and resource wars. This type critiques how corporations and governments prioritize short-term gains over planetary health, using the crisis to entrench power through surveillance and austerity. Their message is urgent: capitalism’s logic ensures doom unless we dismantle it now, redistributing resources equitably before the tipping points lock in irreversible warming. This doomer warns that without revolutionary change, we’ll face not just environmental ruin but the end of democracy itself.

Example: Naomi Klein.

Quote: “We are seeing the beginnings of the era of climate barbarism.”

Book: “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate.”

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4. The Ethical Pessimist Doomer

The Ethical Pessimist Doomer confronts the inevitability of climate catastrophe with stoic wisdom, urging us to find meaning in a doomed world rather than futilely averting it. They view collapse as a profound existential challenge, akin to ancient plagues or wars, where human hubris meets nature’s indifference. This type explores how to live ethically amid rising seas and failing crops, emphasizing personal transformation over political fixes. They predict societal fragmentation but advocate for localized, low-tech adaptations—gardens, skills-sharing, grief rituals—to navigate the chaos. While acknowledging mass die-offs, they reject nihilism, positing that doom frees us to pursue authentic lives unburdened by consumerism. This doomer’s ethos is pragmatic fatalism: accept the end of the world as we know it, then build small islands of sanity in the storm. Their reflections humanize the apocalypse, turning terror into teachable moments.

Example: Roy Scranton.

Quote: “The bad news we must confront is that we’re all gonna die.”

Book: “We’re Doomed. Now What? Essays on War and Climate Change.”

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5. The Gaia Hypothesis Doomer

The Gaia Hypothesis Doomer interprets climate change through the lens of Earth as a self-regulating superorganism, now rebelling against human overreach with vengeful fury. They warn that we’ve disrupted Gaia’s balance, triggering runaway feedbacks like methane releases and ice melt that will render vast regions uninhabitable. This type, often a scientist or inventor, laments humanity’s evolutionary shortcomings—our “stupidity” in ignoring natural laws—leading to billions perishing from famine, thirst, and conflict. They dismiss geoengineering as hubris, predicting it will only hasten collapse, and advocate for minimalism and nuclear options as last resorts. Viewing the crisis as Gaia’s immune response, they foresee a die-off reducing populations to sustainable levels, with survivors in polar refuges. They challenge optimism, insisting we’re past the point of return, and any “solutions” are delusions delaying the inevitable purge. Ultimately, they find solace in Gaia’s resilience, even as we fade.

Example: James Lovelock.

Quote: “It will be death on a grand scale from famine and lack of water.”

Book: “The Revenge of Gaia.”

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6. The Civil Disobedience Doomer

The Civil Disobedience Doomer believes mass nonviolent disruption is the only way to jolt societies from climate complacency, even as they acknowledge the crisis’s unstoppable momentum. They frame the emergency as a moral imperative, where governments’ inaction equates to genocide against future generations and the vulnerable. This type, often an activist leader, calculates worst-case scenarios—billions displaced, ecosystems obliterated—to justify radical tactics like road blockades and hunger strikes. They reject electoral politics as corrupted, pushing for citizens’ assemblies to enforce emissions cuts. Collapse, in their view, looms from tipping points already breached, leading to societal breakdown and authoritarian backlash. This doomer warns that without immediate upheaval, we’ll inherit a world of fortified elites and suffering masses. They embody defiant optimism amid doom, proving that even in freefall, resistance builds solidarity and legacy. Their call is clear: rebel now, or perish quietly.

Example: Roger Hallam.

Quote: “I’m going to tell you the worst-case scenario with climate change… we are looking at the end of most life on Earth.”

Book: “Common Sense for the 21st Century.”

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7. The Near-Term Human Extinction Doomer

The Near-Term Human Extinction (NTHE) Doomer fixates on nonlinear climate dynamics, where small changes trigger cascading failures ending industrial society within decades. They pore over data showing Arctic amplification, permafrost thaw, and ocean heat spikes as harbingers of near-term human extinction. NTHE dismisses gradual warming narratives as dangerously misleading, insisting feedback loops like clathrate gunshots will spike temperatures catastrophically. NTHE predicts grid failures, food shortages, and pandemics wiping out billions swiftly, leaving no room for adaptation. Collapse isn’t abstract—it’s the heat dome frying cities, the megastorms drowning coasts. This doomer challenges scientists’ conservatism, accusing them of lying to protect careers. In a world barreling toward uninhabitability, they urge facing oblivion without illusion, finding purpose in documenting the fall.

Example: Guy McPherson.

Quote: “I can’t imagine that there will be a human left on the Earth in 10 years.”

Book: “Going Dark.”

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8. The OG Doomer

The OG Doomer traces climate catastrophe to unchecked human numbers straining Earth’s finite resources, echoing warnings from centuries past. They argue that population booms outpace food and energy supplies, amplifying emissions and deforestation to tipping points of famine and migration Armageddon. This type critiques modern comforts as illusions masking ecological bankruptcy, predicting moral checks like war and disease culling the excess.  Their historical lens reveals cycles of boom and bust, with today’s overshoot the most perilous yet. Rejecting tech saviors, they call for cultural shifts toward restraint and equity. This doomer’s grim calculus: without halving numbers soon, civilization implodes under its weight, leaving a scorched, depopulated planet. They provoke discomfort, insisting denial of limits dooms us all to premature, violent ends.

Examples: Thomas Malthus, Club of Rome.

Quote: “The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race.”

Book: “An Essay on the Principle of Population.”

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9. The Ecological Footprint Doomer

The Ecological Footprint Doomer quantifies humanity’s oversized impact, revealing how our global appetite exceeds planetary boundaries by 50%, dooming us to overshoot collapse. They expose “cultural denial” of biophysical realities, where renewables can’t replace fossil slaves without massive lifestyle cuts. This type warns of “correction, coercion, or collapse”—population crashes via pandemics, wars, or enforced austerity. They debunk green growth myths, insisting infinite expansion on finite Earth is suicidal. Solutions? Radical degrowth, relocalization, and rightsizing economies to fit regenerative cycles. In a world choking on excess, they advocate humility before nature’s ledger.

Example: William Rees.

Quote: “Not to worry, all we have to do is transition to green renewable energy!”

Book: “Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth.”

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10. The Deep Adaptation Doomer

The Deep Adaptation Doomer embraces societal collapse as inevitable, shifting focus from mitigation to resilience, grief, and mutual support in the ruins. They map “deep adaptation” as navigating tragedy through resilience, relinquishment, and restoration amid food shortages and migrations. This type critiques mainstream environmentalism’s denial of limits, arguing tipping points like ice sheet melt guarantee breakdown. Rather than fairy-tale fixes, they foster communities practicing non-attachment and solidarity, preparing for disrupted services and conflicts. This doomer’s radical honesty: we’re in freefall, but how we fall matters. By rebelling against illusions, we reclaim agency, turning apocalypse into opportunity for reconnection. Their framework empowers ordinary people to build antifragile lives, honoring the dying world with compassion.

Example: Jem Bendell.

Quote: “We gather and rebel not with a vision of a fairy-tale future where we have fixed the climate, but because it is right to do what we can.”

Article: “Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy.”

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11. The Population Bomb Doomer

The Population Bomb Doomer alarms that explosive human numbers, coupled with consumption, ignite climate infernos through deforestation and emissions overload. They forecast civilization’s 10% survival odds against resource wars, pandemics, and starvation as carrying capacity plummets. This type, a biologist, links biodiversity loss to overbreeding, urging global family planning and women’s empowerment to stem the tide. But lateness breeds fatalism: even with cuts, locked-in warming dooms billions. They critique aid and tech as bandaids ignoring root causes, predicting ethical dilemmas like rationing in chaos. They insist ignoring demographics ensures Malthusian horrors, with survivors facing a hotter, emptier world. Their vision demands sacrifice now to soften the landing, blending science with moral urgency. In an era of denial, they warn that unchecked numbers spell extinction.

Example: Paul Ehrlich.

Quote: “Surge in the world’s population means there is only a 10% chance of avoiding a collapse of global civilisation.”

Book: “The Population Bomb.”

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12. The Collapsitarian WASF Doomer

The Collapsitarian WASF Doomer meticulously logs the unraveling of society through newsletters, videos, and forums, stripping away hopium to reveal raw collapse trajectories. Hopium-free for decades, they dissect news of wildfires, bankruptcies, and migrations as milestones toward zero-growth oblivion. This type mocks cherry-picking optimists, insisting systemic failures—debt bubbles, supply chains—interlock with climate shocks for total implosion. They foster unrepentant realism, where preppers and philosophers unite in sardonic camaraderie. This doomer’s gift: unflinching mirrors reflecting our folly, urging joy in fleeting normalcy.  Their ethos: get out there and enjoy it while you still can.

Example: Sam Mitchell.

Quote: “Unapologetic Doomer, unrepentant collapsitarian, hopium-free for 20 years.”

Article: “You Cherry-Picking Doomers Are All the Same.”

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13. The Know-it-All Doomer

The Know-it-All Doomer wields graphs and metrics like weapons, proving climate models underestimate the speed of doom through ocean heat anomalies and aerosol masking drops. They blog obsessively on exponential rises in extremes, debunking GDP resilience myths as empirical fiction. This type exposes how denial permeates academia and policy, with growth fantasies ignoring biophysical collapse. They predict hyperinflation, blackouts, and extinctions cascading into human near-extinction by 2040. Far from abstract, their analyses track real-time horrors—record CO2, vanishing glaciers—building cases for immediate mourning. This doomer’s rigor cuts through noise, empowering readers to verify the abyss themselves. In an age of spin, their transparency is revolutionary, turning stats into elegies for lost futures.

Example: Eliot Jacobson.

Quote: “The idea that climate change will just take off only a small margin of economic growth is not founded on anything empirical. It’s just a kind of wishful thinking.”

Blog: “Watching the World Go Bye.”

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14. The Post-Doom Spiritual Doomer

The Post-Doom Spiritual Doomer transcends grief to “post-doom,” finding gifts in accepting climate apocalypse as evolutionary impetus. A former preacher, they weave theology with ecology, viewing collapse as divine reckoning or cosmic correction urging humility. This type counsels stages of mourning—denial to integration—transforming terror into purpose through rituals and conversations. They reject savior complexes, insisting life’s point isn’t control but reverence amid entropy. Their message: beyond despair lies freedom, living joyfully in finite time, unburdened by saving the unsavable. Blending science and spirit, they unite faiths in eco-lamentation, warning rigid doctrines blind us to signs. This doomer’s wisdom: embrace the end as teacher, fostering compassion in chaos. In dying world’s embrace, they discover resurrection—not of planet, but souls attuned to greater whole.

Example: Michael Dowd.

Quote: “Find the gift beyond mere acceptance that ongoing climate change and abrupt climate change are already underway.”

Article: “Post-Doom: Life After Accepting Climate Collapse.”

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15. The Overshoot Ecologist Doomer

The Overshoot Ecologist Doomer elucidates how humanity’s drawdown of nature’s capital—fossil fuels, soils—propels irreversible climate havoc and revolutionary upheaval. They anatomize “cargoism,” our delusion of endless bounty, leading to bottleneck of scarcity and conflict. This type, a sociologist, charts ecological antagonism turning emotional, as overshoot breeds drawdown’s revenge: superstorms, crop failures, species wipeouts. Solutions? None timely; we’re committed to crash, demanding worldview shift from expansion to restraint. This doomer’s clarity pierces anthropocentrism, insisting understanding context averts needless suffering. In overshot world, they advocate ethical descent, stewarding remnants with wisdom. Their legacy: awakening to limits before the bill arrives fully.

Example: William Catton.

Quote: “Our misunderstanding enabled us to overshoot carrying capacity. If misunderstanding persists, it can turn the ecological kind of antagonism into the emotional kind.”

Book: “Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change.”

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Note. This article was written with the assistance of Grok AI.