Along with ongoing coverage of the latest bombings and missile and drone attacks in Iran and the oil-rich Gulf states, extreme weather events are also providing lead segments on evening news programs this summer. What you don’t see in much of the TV coverage, at least not since the beginning of President Trump’s second term as president, is any mention of climate change. Without that link, watching people like ABC’s David Muir on “the most watched newscast in America” ask network meteorologists to explain the conditions — but never the causes of their nightly footage of burning, flooding landscapes and traumatized people — is excruciating.

On Thursday, July 23, a gathering of more than 50 people took a break from staring at screens and doomscrolling to enjoy pints and flights of locally brewed beer at Faction Brewing. They had come for Ocean Hoptimism, a monthly talk and get-together where participants discuss issues affecting our oceans.