IT IS the season of goodwill, when we try for a few days to forget the world’s problems. But when we are done, we will have once more to confront reality and acknowledge the fact that we, the inhabitants of the planet Earth, are faced with a great dilemma.

And it is this: the planet is changing and not for the good. Yet, while the evidence about climate change is incontrovertible, the most powerful person on the planet snubs the facts, presses on with carbon-fuelled projects for short-term gain and provincial popularity, and pulls out of wordwide arrangements set up to try and address the problem.

Indeed, presented with a national climate assessment by his own scientists, US President Donald Trump said: “I don’t believe it.” This, despite an avalanche of studies reporting that carbon emissions continue to increase, with 2018 a particularly bad year. The Antarctic ice sheet is melting, causing rising sea levels; biodiversity decline continues apace; extreme weather events and natural disasters are rarely out of the news, as seen in recent days.

Dealing with such problems requires a willingness to co-operate at a time when the West is dominated by a man whose every instinct is competitive. However, we cannot give up hope. Give Mr Trump his due: he may not care much about the world but he genuinely loves America. And this may be the world’s way in.

Because, if nothing is done, climate change will cost America dearly. Studies show it could stunt the country’s economic growth, harming agriculture and forests through soil erosion and pest invasion, flooding low-lying areas, creating storm damage, bringing difficulties in water management, causing droughts and wildfires, and even harming tourism.

All of that is language that a businessman like Mr Trump can surely understand. And, continuing in that vein, we present this most powerful man with a challenge for the good of America: Make the Earth safe again.