top of page

Climate Anxiety: How not to despair?

  • Writer: Mathilde
    Mathilde
  • Feb 14, 2020
  • 5 min read


We've seen an increasing amount of publications talking about climate breakdown, how doomed we are and how our children will die of climate change rather than old age. A few examples are books like The Uninhabitable Earth, or this paper which went viral in 2018 regarding our near-term collapse due to climate change. Outside of publications altogether, we are confronted everyday to news on how the natural world is going downhill. Just looking back at 2019 is quite grim: major fires in the Amazon forest, Australia and Southern Europe, cyclone Idai and severe droughts in Africa, devastating flooding in Europe and severe heat waves.


These news trigger in some of us what has been coined as climate anxiety or eco-anxiety. It is defined as "a psychological disorder afflicting an increasing number of individuals who worry about the environmental crisis". People suffer increasingly from creeping anxiety, depression or panic attacks, sometimes unable to identify why.


On top of what we are already experiencing, this is going to get worse. It is only the beginning of a changing planetary balance that models have been predicting for decades. In 2020, the Earth has warmed up by a 1C degree compared to pre-industrial levels (a.k.a, before we started pumping fossil fuels out the earth and based our economic system on aggressive capitalism). Currently, the climate projections set out that global warming is likely to reach 1.5C between 2030-2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate. Global warming is currently increasing at 0.2C per decade (IPCC, 2018). Our safest (least destructive) threshold is 1.5C, but our carbon emissions keep rising and rising and rising, whereas they should have started to decrease by now. Below is a little doodle from the IPCC website to give you an idea of projected global warming:



Global warming means people we love are going to die because of heat, because of cold, or because their house was burnt or destroyed. It means we're going to be emotionally and psychologically impacted, creating severe anxiety, trauma, fear, uncertainty in our lives. This is not sci-fi, it's real life. It's happening now and it will get much worse.

What global warming will look like


You all know what this means: more extreme weather events means more droughts, heat waves, storms, typhoons, flooding, fires. We are also seeing appalling biodiversity loss with the sixth mass extinction which is triggered by climate change, pollution, agricultural systems (overuse of pesticides and intensive animal agriculture with livestock using up to 40% of the planet's primary production). That means more of us are going to loose our homes, be forced to change our lifestyles, our jobs, ration food and water, move away from places we love because it'll become uninhabitable, disappear under water or there won't be any water left at all (we're talking about tens of millions of people). It means there are some day where we won't be able to get out of our home because it's more than 45C degrees outside (if we're lucky enough to have a home in the first place). It means homes will be destroyed on a regular basis, whether because of flooding or storms. It means people we love are going to die because of heat, because of cold, or because their house was burnt or destroyed. It means we're going to be emotionally and psychologically impacted, creating severe anxiety, trauma, fear and uncertainty. This is not sci-fi, it's real life. It's happening now and it will get much worse. The places where we can live are going to shrink on Earth and our resources are going to become sparser.


Some tell us that talking about eco-anxiety and planting native plants in your back garden will help. I'm not judging whether it's good or bad to plant something in your garden (it's always good to plant something), nevertheless, I am doubtful that individual action will make us feel better overall. It doesn't weigh enough to change the course of the climate disaster awaiting us in the long run. Of course, it's great to reduce your environmental footprint as an individual and if it makes you feel better and helps you cope with despair, please go for it (go for it anyway)! However, the fact of the matter is the world is on course for catastrophic weather events, and nothing, nothing is contradicting these projections so far.



Instead of trying to cure eco-anxiety, maybe we should actually voice much more how scared we are, how desperate we feel, and talk about the anger that our governments and companies trigger in us. Maybe the answer to eco-anxiety lies in rebellion, whatever that means to you.

A guide against eco-anxiety: rebel


As an environmentalist, I wish I could provide you with a guide (as I usually do) on how to cope with this. The truth is, I don't know how to deal with this. I personally oscillate between fear, anger, hope and action. I wish I could tell you that I feel hopeful, that I believe in what's best in humans and humanity as a whole, or that we will find technologies to save us. Maybe these things will happen, who knows? But I have to admit that I don't feel that any of this will save us.


We need such dramatic system changes, and our global institutions and leaders are acting so slowly that I'm not sure where their apathy will lead us. I think we should talk about this much more, as did Extinction Rebellion or Greta Thunberg who told leaders she wanted them to panic. Instead of trying to cure eco-anxiety, maybe we should actually voice much more how scared we are, how desperate we feel, and talk about the anger that our governments and companies trigger in us. Maybe the answer to eco-anxiety lies in rebellion, whatever that means to you: whether it's being an activist, boycotting companies that don't align with your values, through voting, community gardening, having a family chat, composting at home, reducing your waste, drastically reducing your intake of animal products. Whatever sits right with you. Even if it's small and is not going to save the planet, because you alone can't save the planet, it's as simple as that. If it makes you feel better, that's what matters.


I think that's the way I cope with eco-anxiety. I don't ignore it - how could I? I acknowledge the fact that we're in deep troubles and that I don't know what the future holds. I research to understand what this means, and then I do what I can, and let go of what I can't control. It is sometimes possible to find peace and joy in the darkest of places, including climate breakdown.


 
 
 

Commentaires


mathilde logo words.png
  • Instagram Social Icon

© 2018 by The Leaf

bottom of page