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https://www.yesmagazine.org/mental-health/the-best-medicine-for-my-climate-grief-20180809>
"A climate scientist talks to a psychologist about coping with the
crushing stress related to climate change. Here’s what he learned."
Originally via Margo Duesterhaus, additional comments below reposted
with permission from Dr Tim Foresman:
This article by Peter Kalmus (see link above) may be illuminating for
some. In my case, this article may help some folks to appreciate the
mental state that I am personally in, almost constantly since my tenure
with the United Nations Environment Programme. With a twist.
At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) my team
presented the world's report card to 192 nations. The Global
Environmental Outlook-3 (GEO3) documented, through global scientific
consensus, the decline in almost every ecological system known (forest,
seas, glaciers, meadows, rivers, you get the drift; free download from
UNEP). Climate change was not highlighted above the litany of unraveling
natural life webs. So for the Bucky Fuller fans, in essence, I was
lamenting the loss of life support systems aboard Spaceship Earth, as
documented by a coalition of international scientists. I was also giving
testimony through writings, teachings, and public talks the approaching
climate storm that Spaceship Earth is destined to sail into. A human
induced storm. I recollect my discussions with Bill McKibben and his
team that 350.org should be either 280.org to reflect the pre-industrial
homeostatic conditions of CO2 in the atmosphere, or put in 450 because
we were going to reach it soon. [Today it is 408.7 ppm].
So I am perhaps more like a Bactrian with two back humps that are
overloaded with "Hey!" Hey, we can stop the use of fossil fuels. Hey, we
can recycle in our neighborhoods. Hey, we clean up plastic from the beaches.
Hey, the population is over loading our planet's ecological goods and
services.
Hey, the unleashing of global capitalism for an exponentially increasing
consumer citizen consumption is diminishing our natural resources and
polluting our land, air, and water.
Hey, the global economic systems are not being harnessed to address the
previous two issues.
Oh, and Hey, we are heating up the planet and many in the science
community think we have hit the tipping point.
So Gaia is getting sick, and we are heading into hurricane season...for
the rest of our lives.
Thanks Margo for passing this along. Perhaps we can all be kinder to
each other as we realize that people around us are feeling real and
envisioned trauma for our Garden of Eden. A trauma of biblical
proportions with no help from a deity. And all the people holding hands
and drinking Coke will not, with any probability, make a difference. And
all the people are not holding hands.
I am not a pessimist. I am a realist who sees the cracked glass; half
empty or half full doesn't matter.
However, it is no fun to listen to funeral dirges as we head to a bad
place in a hand basket. And that is why I started Earth Party. If we
can't celebrate the planet and what it has provided for us and given us
in this short reality, then life might not be so fun. The ability for
humans to engage with each other and do good deeds, even in the
approaching storm, is vital to mental health. In Key West when a
hurricane hits, many go to the oldest buildings (Capt Tony's Saloon
where I lived had survived many hurricanes) and party party party. After
the party when the calm winds returned, one could face the realities of
their homes (what's left) and either laugh or cry.
Perhaps a series of Climate Change Parties (CCPs), akin to Hurricane
Parties, might be a better approach to our fate than palliative salves
of carbon credits for flying or plastic bags collected. Climate Change
Parties might help us get above the waterline of mass media and weapons
of mass distraction to have a bit more enjoyment out of life, while
acknowledging the friggin planet is catastrophically heating up.
It is so helpful to know that others like Peter Kalmus are also freaking
out and that psychologist are recognizing the reality of this trend.
Perhaps we can promote Climate Change Parties as a true antidote to the
psychic paralysis that accompanies more advanced knowledge regarding
climate change. Use the Hurricane Party model, it has been time tested.
Peace, Tim
Dr Tim Foresman
www.earthparty.org
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
