The "luckwarmers" accept that humans are causing global heating, but want to bet civilization's future on the chance that it won't be as bad as it appears.

It is a mistake to compare these postures with personal grief. These people are not acting out of a sense of loss. The loss has not yet occurred, although climate scientists tell us that it will. These are not stages in grief, they are stages in a campaign of persuasion that abandons an untenable position to take the next line that will justify the conclusion it wants.