The air in Manhattan got better because people rejected resignation and demanded that we must do better. By "scars" you mean the permanent destruction of coral

The air in Manhattan got better because people rejected resignation and demanded that we must do better. By "scars" you mean the permanent destruction of coral reefs, old-growth forests, and the species that depend on them? These cannot be rebuilt on any timescale meaningful to civilization. What exactly are you defending? Survival is the floor, not a metric of success.