An Introduction to Climate Anxiety

Each quarter, a group of students, faculty, and staff at WWU convene an environmental justice reading group to read and discuss recent texts. In Fall 2020 the group read Sarah Jaquette Ray’s A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety. This post reflects and extends our discussion.

 

An Introduction to Climate Anxiety

By: Anna Thomas, Hailey Schmidt, and Amber Crabb

 

 

This week, we read the introduction and first chapter of Sarah Jaquette Ray’s A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety, How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet. These first sections discuss Ray’s journey around climate anxiety education and how educators may be imparting climate anxiety stress onto the younger generations they teach. She describes how climate anxiety can inhibit one’s ability to be hopeful and take action, which can lead to feeling like an environmental burden; however, Ray also acknowledges the positives in climate action. Ray states that Gen Z is the most diverse generation yet and has the strongest focus on environmental justice within the environmental movement. In addition, concerns surrounding environmental-related issues span across political parties within Gen Z. This opens up the possibility for more collective action. 

 

In discussion, we considered two broad concepts within the reading and answered related questions. First, we asked about climate anxiety, which Ray describes as, “environmentally related mental health issues [that] exist and are pervasive;” she argues “acceptance of this is the first step” (p. 29). We decided that “climate anxiety” is a constant part of practicing modern environmentalism. Students were also asked: How do you notice climate anxiety affecting your life? In what ways does it affect your choices and/or your motivation to act? How can white “environmentalists” grapple with their own climate anxiety and eco-grief while recognizing and “checking” their relative privilege? 

 

Many students were drawn to Ray’s flowchart, which summarizes an environmental studies student’s emotional journey through environmental education:

 

“Idealism → lost innocence → guilt → nihilism → self care, rediscover pleasure, bake cookies → hope → efficacy → resilience” (p. 13).

 

Most students agreed they feel stuck bouncing between nihilism and self-care, usually remaining unsure of how to breakthrough to “hope.” One student pointed out grief is a biological process people must physically experience; “eco-grief,” a term used to define the sadness one feels when contemplating the degrading environment, requires a similar confrontation. 

 

Additionally, students expressed guilt about not engaging enough in individual action. One student pointed out a false dichotomy of blame that is often described in climate work between individual action and the current societal system. They shared they felt they have been swinging on a pendulum between obsessing over individual action and nihilism influenced by a corrupt system. The truth is both are factors in climate injustices, and changes to both are necessary. The challenge is addressing both without exhausting our emotional capabilities.

 

We also discussed how grief is a product of love. When one’s love for their surrounding environment is great, the pain felt when witnessing its exploitation is also great.

 

When privilege was brought up, the group considered the fact that much of the climate stress white groups have been dealing with comes from issues many BIPOC have been facing for even longer. While the eco-grief white environmentalists are encountering is valid, it is important to keep in mind that this may be a delayed reaction to issues which have been prevalent for much longer in BIPOC communities.

 

One student talked about grief and privilege in reference to a concentric ring model of grief and support. The figure below shows this model with a person affected by the trauma in the middle and layers of people less affected extending outwards. When dealing with a traumatic experience, it is most effective to lean on people on the ring outside of you and it is inappropriate to lean inwards. This can be applied to grief and privilege because, in regards to climate change, people with less privilege are less directly affected by the impacts. It is important for white activists to keep this model in mind to check their relative privilege while processing their own grief. 

 

 

Image: A set of circles surrounding a red circle labeled “Person/ people directly affected.” The closest ring is orange and labeled “Family members, Close friends.” The middle ring is yellow and labeled “Close community, Neighbours.” The outermost circle is tan and labeled “Wider community, Other contacts.” A gray arrow labeled “Comfort In” points in through the rings to the middle circle. A red arrow labeled “Dump Out” points out of the rings from the middle circle. Image from https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/sympathy.html 

 

Next, we considered the future, and the fact that this generation may have a better chance at coming together to make a change. As Ray says on page 7,“The next generation will likely force the Republican Party to change its tune on climate change. Conservatives in Gen-Z care about it, while older conservatives do not. It is counterproductive, therefore, to think of climate change as just an issue for Democrats or “liberals,” and far more important to begin mobilizing along generational lines.” How do people “mobilize along generational lines” for the sake of a movement? How will or should the climate justice movement going forward differ from the mainstream climate movement? Does a charismatic leader have a place in the climate justice movement? 

 

Students referred to a previously assigned podcast, the “Black Lives Matter and the Climate” episode of How to Save a Planet, and discussed how the concept of a “leader-full” movement, one with broad and diverse leadership rather than one representative, is effective. Having one leader can politicize a movement based on that leader’s politics, potentially excluding certain groups. To “mobilize along generational lines” rather than party lines, it is important that the movement be available to all.

 

The first part of this book provided fruitful conversation. We talked about how we’ve been impacted by the way environmental awareness is taught, discussed grief, and thought about how we can cope AND act. Beginning to unfold our emotional responses to climate injustice is helpful for our generation to move forward and make changes in the direction of environmental justice. 

 

Bibliography

 

Blumberg, Alex, and Johnson, Ayana, hosts. “Black Lives Matter and the Climate.” How to Save a Planet, Gimlet, 24 Sept. 2020. https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet/39habgl/black-lives-matter-and-the-climate

Ray, Sarah Jaquette. A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet. Univ of California Press, 2020.

Royalty-Free photo: Wood, tree, spruce, picea, conifer, texture, wooden disc, light, shadow, annual rings, structure. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://www.pickpik.com/wood-tree-spruce-picea-conifer-texture-42652

“What is Sympathy?” Skills You Need, www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/sympathy.html.