Climate change despair

[Shuffalo]

The full enormity of the climate change crisis has hit me and I just feel utter, utter despair. I don’t even feel like anything’s real anymore, I just can’t believe what we’ve done to the planet and what’s in our futures. It’s too late to even do anything. I just feel so so sad, proper crushing despair and I can’t seem to snap put of it. Does anyone have any advice? I know I can make changes on an individual level but it just feels like pissing in the wind. Pointless.

Don't worry the planet will be fine, it survived the ice age after all. Human beings will probably be fucked but the planet will recover.

Can i suggest you listen to Newscast podcast, from last Monday? There is a lovely interview with Alok Sharma who is president of the climate change group.

Ultimately yes hopefully after humans are gone the planet will recover which is good. I’m sad and fearful of what my children will have to endure. How horrible will it be to be the last humans alive? Maybe not them but in a few generations. All our culture, everything humanity has produced, just gone.

I'm so sorry you're feeling like this, OP. The weight of it can feel crushing, but don't despair - there's so much to feel hopeful for (I work in the field, and I promise, all is not lost). Perhaps some mindfulness or whatever you find useful to take care of your mental health, and a commitment to take action yourself? For me, when it comes to it, I just want to be able to truthfully say to my children and grandchildren that I tried.

There are a lot of resources online, but some of the most impactful things you can do:

• Get active - write to your MP, join local campaign groups, donate to environmental charities, start awkward conversations with your family, friends and neighbours
• Change your consumption habits - eat less-but-better quality meat and dairy, or go vegetarian or vegan. Change your energy supplier to 100% renewable. Commit to flying less, if at all. Buy second hand and repair, only buy brand new as a last resort and, when you do, spend your money on things that are built to last. That goes for everything from clothes to phones to fridges.
• Plant your garden - if you're fortunate enough to have one - for wildlife. Create a small pond, plant for pollinators, feed birds.

No, none of these individual actions will save the planet. But you will give yourself peace of mind that you are doing what you can to avert this crisis.

By far the most impactful thing any one of us can do though is, come the next general election, vote for a party whose policies are aimed genuinely at averting climate crisis, restoring biodiversity, and building an economy built on fairness.

Don't despair. It isn't too late. We - the scientists, economists and policy wonks - do have the answers. We just need the right leadership. In the meantime, i hope you can admire some bumblebees and birds in your garden or local park.

It's not too late but it will be soon. The most important thing is to pressure your political representatives for change. They are used to hearing from a minority of constituents, but if a massive amount of people get in touch with them, it will register on their (incredibly short-termist) radar.

Other than that there is loads you can do personally - the ideal thing now is to keep fossil fuels in the ground.

Eat much less meat and dairy, reduce any flying that you do, try to consume more consciously by not buying often, buying second hand, buying natural materials etc. Switch your electric and gas to a properly renewable energy source (not one that just buys certificates, but someone like Ecotricity who invest in new infrastructure). If you have some cash you could convert your home to solar and an air source heat pump. If you have loads of cash you could become a green investor!

Don't give in to doomism whatever you do. It's true that to have a bigger impact we do need to shut down fossil fuel production. But culture change is about more than simply counting carbon. Living more sustainably sends a message out to others, including companies, colleagues, family, friends, politicians etc.

Thanks for your replies. You’re right, it’s better I take action, even if it feels pointless. Maybe every little bit of change may help, even a tiny bit. I’m already with Bulb but will move to Ecotricity as it appears they do actually invest in new initiatives. I’ve always voted Green when it’s been an option, but maybe I should be more active. Ill look into what i could write to my MP to say. I’ll commit to going vegetarian, at the very least I’ll avoid beef, dairy and fish.
I’ll investigate solar panels and the heat pump. I’d love my house to be carbon neutral, not sure how easy it will be to convert an old semi though. But I will investigate. I feel like I have to do something! I’ve always tried to ‘be green’ but in quite a passive way really. The latest reports have really shocked me into doing more. I’m so scared for the future.

I know what you mean @shuffalo, when I saw the news last week I had the same sort of feeling I had as a child when I realised that my mum was going to die one day and then that I would as well. Just as if everything is suddenly too big to comprehend.

I did too, tbh. I think if you have kids it really gives you a kind of emotional vertigo, because it's about more than just your lifetime.

But my MIL (who is usually a climate denier) started talking unpromoted about all the widlfires and climate change. I was really shocked but really glad. Things ARE starting to break through to people's consciousness. We know what to do to minimise the crisis. We need to gather the political, consumer and commercial will to do it.

I pay about £6 to carbon neutralise my life via a mixture of tree planting/solar power/solar stoves instead of wood fired ones in developing countries. I do this via the Klima app. I also plant a tree for free everyday via Treeapp.
I feel the same way too OP. I have a meeting with my MP about it planned in his surgery. Though he is a Tory and is for everything I am against (Brexit/HS2)
You could also look at where you bank etc. One of the biggest funders of fossil fuels are banks and pension funds etc.

I’m not ‘glad’ but kind of relieved it’s not just me who feels this way. The best way is to target the biggest hitters I think, you’re right. I’m going to look at moving my investments out of their traditional places and into investments that are more green. Not sure how easy it is to move ISAs but I’ll investigate. I’ll also look at moving banks, not sure DH will be happy but hey. Also I’ll actually meet my MP face to face at his surgery, might be more effective than a letter I’ll just get a canned response to.

Everything you do will help and everything you do has the ability to influence others. If nothing else, you can know that once you became aware, you did everything possible to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Our big changes this year are:
Electric car
Solar panels
Ultra insulating the loft
Chose bamboo flooring instead of wood when our flooring finally had to be replaced (25 year old carpet and cheap laminate that hadn’t stood the test of time). Bamboo is twice as hard as wood, sustainable and cheaper.

Even something like solar panels can influence others. The more people have them, the less people will see them as unusual/ugly, they simply become the norm and viewed as a desirable thing to have.

Big project next year is to expand the amount of our own food we grow. I’m doubling the size of the kitchen garden (reducing lawn), and this autumn I’m putting in four more fruit trees (already have six apples, two crab apples and a large cherry). Putting in more water butts at the same time.

We are also thinking longer term. In all likelihood, if things don’t improve we are looking at more people in less space and continued price increases for property. We are working on the basis that multigenerational living will become the norm again. We are also putting in things like shutters on windows and brise soleil/ pergolas above French doors plus more trees all for shading, extra soakaway/drainage to deal with flooding and minimising hard surfaces unless they are water permeable.

If I’d thought about it sooner we’d have had pale, light reflective roof titles on the part of the house roof without the solar panels.