Princeton climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer is one of 100 expert contributors to Thunberg’s new anthology, “The Climate Book: The Facts and the Solutions” (Penguin Random House), which was published in the U.K. Oct. 27 and is slated for U.S. release in February. Oppenheimer’s essay, “The Discovery of Climate Change,” appears in book’s first section, under the heading “The science is as solid as it gets.”

In this Q&A, he talks about what makes Thunberg so compelling as an activist, what he likes about the book’s approach to climate change, and why he hasn’t given up on humanity’s ability to fix this “terrible mess” that we’ve gotten ourselves into.