I think this is a good example of the kind of pervasive nihilism the OP is describing. Climate change is bad, and "climate refugees" describes a real phenomenon

I think this is a good example of the kind of pervasive nihilism the OP is describing. Climate change is bad, and "climate refugees" describes a real phenomenon that's likely to happen, but the idea of a global apocalypse where most people have no long-term future is beyond even the worst case projections in the literature. Why are people so attracted to this untrue idea?