Climate change anxiety

[SuperNappyBaby]

Is it reasonable to be so worried about climate change that its on your mind every day and you worry your children won’t have a normal life? I find it surreal that most people around me are happy going about their lives not dwelling on this.

The headline on the Guardian a few days ago was about how insects are being wiped out and that threatens the collapse of nature.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeting-insect-numbers-threaten-collapse-of-nature

Climate change to bring rising sea levels, fires, more animals dying out, coral reefs gone etc.

Its so overwhelming, like we’re living at the end of the world.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeting-insect-numbers-threaten-collapse-of-nature

I just choose not to think about it 🤷‍♀️

I get this.
Bravely risking posting in the hope that someone has something hopeful to say

It's not unusual, I've seen posts on here before expressing such anxiety. There is a school of thought that one should only worry about what one has control over but that's easier said than done.

Climate change is happening, it is potentially devastating but unfortunately unlike other existential threats it is not so overt so people choose to ignore it, either because they have no control over it and don't want to think about it, or in the case of certain politicians, because they have financial interests in or are lobbied by the fossil fuel industry. We can only take limited action as individuals but we should do what we can: limit our car/plane journeys, recycle, don't waste electricity, use compost bins, create a bee friendly environment in our garden (assuming we have one), don't stand by when you hear people casting doubt on climate change.

This is amazing..www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/08/global-school-strikes-over-climate-change-head-to-the-uk
Hope it gets decent media coverage!

You're not alone op.

I saw that Jellykat, I think that it's brilliant.

We all should think about it, but tbh being so anxious about it that you are dwelling on it everyday is not ok.
So imho:
YANBU to think about environment and climate change and do something to help.
YABU to be THAT anxious about it.

Agree. I wonder if we will look back on this year / last uear as the time when it really started.

I found these articles chilling

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/01/australia-has-long-had-its-freakishly-hot-days-but-this-summer-feels-different?fbclid=IwAR3epwG5RUIHgJlJteKgfnkc18QkDiaqTyWzXPnJRSKjoqzwdj2TbRTSnBg

www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/05/tasmania-is-burning-the-climate-disaster-future-has-arrived-while-those-in-power-laugh-at-us

Its great isnt it Isitsix, bet it doesnt get mentioned on the news etc.. BUT these children can educate their parents!

All we can do, is our bit individually.. My farming neighbour is no longer speaking to me, as i screamed at him a few weeks ago having caught him muck spreading by spraying from the road, over the hedge.. (6.30 a.m and me in my dressing gown), this muck full of antibiotics etc, was running down the hill and straight into a natural water course. Be vigilant, watch what people are doing around you, if the hedgerows along highways are being cut before wildflowers have seeded, ring your council immediately. Learn what the rules are, and keep your eyes open!
Apart from that, as previously said, dont use pesticides/ weed killers etc, limit plastic use, use public transport/cycle and leave the car at home, dont buy anything using palm oil, join Greenpeace or another body to help the fight etc..

Well, last week we heard of massive rainfall in Oz (1m in 1 week) 1,000,000 fish dead in a river. Last night on News At Ten was the prediction that insects will be wiped out within 30yrs!! I cannot even begin to grasp the consequence's of that!!
Online, climatologists are speculating humans will probably not survive the next 30yrs.....some speculated 10yrs in 2016. They all predict things will begin to accelerate very shortly and that death will follow on a biblical scale.

I think the damage is done, its a bit like trying to polish the cracks out of a window after you've thrown a stone at it!!

There are good news stories about the environment out there on the internet. The media does tend to dwell on the negative so try doing a search for positive environmental news stories.

There's about 1 thread a week on this. What is the AIBU? Not many people want to wreck the place, but our entire systems of life are founded on destroying the planet.

Nice one - that'll be reassuring OP there. That's silly scare stories. We're definitely heading for disaster if we don't get a firm grip on it but silly speculation like that is counterproductive because when it doesn't happen then it gives ammunition to climate sceptics that it's all scare mongering.

We have 2 grown dc , 1 of whom has already decided they won't be having children, because of what's happening with the environment.
As sad as I am, I can entirely understand it.

"Online, climatologists are speculating humans will probably not survive the next 30yrs.....some speculated 10yrs in 2016. They all predict things will begin to accelerate very shortly and that death will follow on a biblical scale."

Sorry, but that's bollocks. Don't post fearmongering stuff like that, please, climatologists aren't saying that at all.

It is scary and I totally understand the anxiety. But we have the tools and technology to tackle it. We know what should be done. It's just turning the will of government and corporations in the right direction.

Awareness is building.
The next generation are not going to be so complacent.

I'm having sleepless nights, but then I am a bone fide properly diagnosed anxiety sufferer. . And despairing won't help anything. And nature us tough.

There is a thread on here called active hope. It's died down a bit now, but bump it and see what people are saying.

Totally reasonable to think about it every day. Totally reasonable to be anxious. Rather than just quietly fretting though you might find it better to channel your energy into doing something positive about it - I know I do.

Also - as someone who has been following climate change news for a long time, I find it reassuring that in the past year there has been much more of a focus about it.

Three or four years ago I remember threads on MN about climate change were a) rare as hen's teeth and b) descended into ridiculous arguments full of conspiracy theories. At least now we seem to have reached a consensus and a consciousness. If the public is now informed hopefully it means we can finally do something!

I agree FruminousBandersnatch

It's not like our problems are unsolvable, things can be mitigated.
The problem is political, really. And the tide IS turning.

Reducing meat consumption is also recommended.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/10/huge-reduction-in-meat-eating-essential-to-avoid-climate-breakdown

I think we are heading towards extinction of our current civilisation, much like Mayan’s, Romans etc also died out. Small pockets will survive. I notice the direct effects of species extinction around me. It is depressing. However if the anxiety is all consuming, consider some medication to reduce it-I take dukoxetine which has been like someone switching off the anxiety tap for me.

"The next generation are not going to be so complacent."

Absolutely. What a clued-up bunch of young people are coming up behind us. I feel bad for them that we and past generations have left all this shit for them to fix, but I have no doubt they're ready to step up.

And I don’t think any climate change stuff will have any impact without a similar huge change in global population and reproduction rates.

Just to reiterate - speculation is very unhelpful. We need to stick to the facts because there are plenty of climate change sceptics with powerful backing from the fossil fuel industry who will be all over any stories, which are later disproved, as 'evidence' that climate change is not happening.