Well, Jessica, you said a mouthful (pageful?).
After coming down hard on optimism, can you show me any example in history where pessimists triumphed?
Any?
If all of this doom and destruction bothers you to the point where you live out your solutions, that is great. Each person in their own way is dealing with information and misinformation, many with the adaptation of status quo or ignorance or apathy.
It will always be that way, and lacking space to divulge the entirety of that statement it’s probably best to study psychology and sociology in depth.
So my solution, for my peace of mind, is to live frugally and minimally, offer hope when there may be none, and acknowledge the choices of others even when they are different from mine.
Will this save our world?
That is beyond me, I’m just grateful for all the options available for me - - choice of my behaviour, choice of attitude in which to do the best of my known ability to do what I can.