Some of it...
"Can we be happy, motivated, or useful while on a seemingly burning planet? Is there any way to energetically take effective action to stop—or at the very least strongly delay—the destruction while simultaneously being overwhelmed by it?
For many people, taking action against climate change feels like an almost unbearable task, facing them too late and with too few options of attack.
This overwhelming feeling is all the more present for those who’ve inherited an overly polluted and depleted planet. A December 2021 study looked at the climate anxiety of 10,000 people aged 16 to 25 across ten geographically varied countries. Researchers found that 59% of people were very or extremely worried and 84% were moderately worried. Additionally, 75% find the future frightening, and 45% say climate change poorly impacts their daily life and functioning.1
It’s worth noting that climate inaction is far different from climate denial. The latter “is the complete lack of acceptance that climate change is a manmade problem. Climate inaction is the delaying of the action we know we need to take,” says Saba Harouni Lurie, a licensed therapist and founder of Take Root Therapy. Climate inaction is an issue itself but an understandable and solvable one."
and
"To investigate how prevalent psychological distance to climate change really is – and whether it might prevent climate action – the researchers systematically reviewed the available evidence.
First, they analysed data from 27 public opinion polls from around the world – including China, the US, UK, Australia and the EU – finding that most people perceive climate change as happening now and nearby. And this was not just in recent polls. Data from as far back as 1997 indicated almost half of US respondents believed climate change was already occurring.
Second, based on an analysis of past studies, they found people who perceive climate change as more distant do not necessarily engage in less climate action. Indeed, some studies have shown the opposite pattern. People who perceived climate change as affecting people in far-away locations were more motivated to support climate action.
In short, the evidence for the idea that psychological distance is preventing us from climate action is very mixed.
Third, after examining 30 studies, the team found very little evidence that experiments aimed at changing people’s perception of the psychological distance of climate change actually increase their climate action. For example, studies where people watch videos about the impacts of climate change in local versus distant locations do not show these people having different intentions to engage in environmental behaviour.
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So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates
-Dik
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