In his interview for The Guardian earlier this year, James Lovelock likened the current period to that preceding World War II. “We all knew something terrible was going to happen,” he said, “but we didn’t know what to do about it.” Once the war finally started, everyone got excited. People loved what they could do. “It was one long holiday,” as he put it half in jest. “A sense of purpose—that’s what people want.” But the interview took place before the crises in Ukraine and the Middle East took shape. Now we all know something terrible is going to happen, but we do not know what it will eventually be. Will it be climate change all by itself, or will it be World War III, as well? In the former case, we would still not know what to do about it, but we would know pretty well what to do in the latter case. It would be one long holiday once again. The unknown terror of climate change would be mitigated by the known terror of a world war. In some sense, the two terrors would be so much easier to bear together. Come to think of it, is this why World War III is all but inevitable?