What do the conflict in the Middle East and climate change have in common? Well, they’re both considered “urgent threats” at TakePart. In fact, there are five threats we consider to be top priorites. Along with the Middle East and climate change, TakePart sees pandemics, nuclear proliferation, and clean water to be urgent threats to the health and safety of the global population. These are not issues, obviously, that can be waited out. Time is not on our side (hence, you know, the urgency).

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “Man. Those are five things that are a little bit beyond tricky. How can we even begin to unravel these threats?” For starters, at least one scientist has realized that being optimistic, and believing we can fix these problems goes a long way. From BusinessWeek:

In the 1970s, Dr. Lawrence Brilliant worked in India on an international effort to eradicate smallpox, which killed 300 million to 500 million people in the 20th century alone, more than all the century’s wars combined. The effort succeeded in 1979. “After that, how could you not be an optimist?” asks Brilliant. In April he became president of the new Skoll Urgent Threats Fund, a nonprofit started by philanthropist Jeffrey Skoll, the first president of eBay, to combat pandemics, climate change, nuclear proliferation, and other global problems. Brilliant argues that optimism must come from both the heart and the head: “Faith, science, and will. I draw on all of them.”

These five urgent threats are not easily solvable. But you know what? Neither was eradicating smallpox. But Dr. Brilliant is right–given the right tools, there’s no reason to think that these problems can’t be solved. Of course, getting the tools together isn’t necessarily a walk in the park, but if we have the mindset that these issues can be resolved, then it’s a lot easier to start tackling them.

So as you read through TakePart, and wonder how we’re going to attack these urgent threats, don’t feel powerless. Optimism is a pretty strong weapon to have in our arsenal.