Climate change – two words that are almost always accompanied by paragraphs of dread. Let’s save some time and assume that you agree that this phenomenon is not only the harbinger of some truly disastrous nightmares, but that it’s being driven by human activity. What’s the one thing that you can do, as an individual, to slow down the terrifying pace of climate change?

Trust us, we know how you feel. Reading report after report on how powerful natural disasters are going to get, or hearing about how war, conflict, and famine await us on an inevitably scorched Earth, is enough to make you think that fighting against the incoming tide is utterly futile.

Why bother recycling that plastic bottle, installing a solar panel on your roof, or giving up your car for a bike when huge conglomerates pump out tonnes of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere at a blistering rate? Why spend hours arguing with a climate change conspiracy theorist on Twitter when you know that powerful interests have their backs?

Of course, if everyone thought this way, then we really would be doomed to fail. Recycling, reducing vehicular use, eating less meat, and using renewable energy sources, if possible, all help to shrink your carbon footprint. If others follow your example, the planet will be better off.

It is true, though, that unless the most powerful people in the world act on climate change, individual efforts will be in vain – and therein lies the most significant, game-changing action you can take to change the future.

You can vote.

It may sound trite, and there are many justifiable complaints that certain voting systems are biased towards those interested in maintaining their own grip on power. However, voting is inarguably the most effective way of preventing climate change-denying politicians from holding office. It’s also the only way you can empower people that will actually be able to fight against this oncoming maelstrom.

Do not be complacent. Get up, get out there, and vote. ra2studio/Shutterstock