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<p><font size="+2"><i><b>April 14, 2022</b></i></font><br>
</p>
<i>[ Dangerous profession, usually unpaid too. Was it because they
acted alone? ] </i><br>
<b>More than half of activists killed in 2021 were land, environment
defenders</b><br>
by Ashoka Mukpo on 7 April 2022<br>
<blockquote> --An analysis by Front Line Defenders and the Human
Rights Defenders Memorial recorded at least 358 murders of human
rights activists globally in 2021.<br>
<br>
--Of that total, nearly 60% were land, environment or Indigenous
rights defenders.<br>
<br>
--The countries with the highest death tolls were Colombia, Mexico
and Brazil.<br>
<br>
--Advocates say the figure is likely far higher, as attacks on
land and environment defenders in Africa often go unreported.<br>
</blockquote>
At least 358 human rights defenders were killed in 2021, according
to an analysis by Front Line Defenders (FLD) and the international
consortium Human Rights Defenders Memorial. Of the total, nearly 60%
were land, environment or Indigenous rights defenders, and more than
a quarter were themselves Indigenous. Researchers who worked to
compile the data said the high proportion of activists killed while
fighting against threats to community land and natural resources
represented a continuation of a years-long trend.<br>
<br>
“Unfortunately, in most if not all of the places where this is
happening, there’s just flat-out impunity for these attacks,” said
Andrew Anderson, the director of FLD.<br>
<br>
As was the case in 2020, the deadliest country for human rights
defenders was Colombia, with 138 verified killings — more than a
third of the global total. Mexico recorded 42 deaths, the
second-highest number, and Brazil came in third with 27 killings, 19
of them land rights defenders.<br>
<br>
Anderson told Mongabay that many of the murdered activists were
targeted due to their opposition to dams, illegal logging, mining
operations, and other extractive projects linked to powerful
interests in their countries.<br>
<br>
“Activists who are working to document what’s happening and
challenge government-driven narratives are at extreme risk,” he
said...<br>
- -<br>
“These are our first responders who are responding in a very
effective way to the climate crisis,” Brownell said. “These are our
democracy heroes who aim for transparency and accountability, and
are blowing the whistle on these violations. We have to secure this
firewall and protect them.”<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/more-than-half-of-activists-killed-in-2021-were-land-environment-defenders/">https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/more-than-half-of-activists-killed-in-2021-were-land-environment-defenders/</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<i>[ OK, is this PR policy, or is it a boasting opportunity? ]</i><br>
<b>Pinterest Is Turning Misinformation Into Good PR</b><br>
The platform banned content suggesting that climate change is a
hoax, emphasizing that it offers more than surface-level home décor
tips.<br>
BY AARON MAK - - APRIL 12, 2022<br>
Last week, Pinterest announced that it would be banning climate
change misinformation from its platform, including content that
denies the existence of the environmental phenomenon and humans’
contribution to it. “Our new policy makes Pinterest the only major
digital platform to have clearly defined guidelines against false or
misleading climate change information, including conspiracy
theories, across content and ads,” a company statement read.<br>
<br>
Pinterest, an image curation site that’s often used for interior
design and recipe brainstorming, isn’t a particularly political
platform compared to the likes of Twitter and Facebook. It’s unclear
how big of a problem climate change misinformation was for Pinterest
prior to this new policy. When asked about the amount of climate
change misinformation that the platform has taken down and what it
looked like, a Pinterest spokesperson told Slate, “Our goal is to be
proactive. We don’t wait until harmful content reaches a certain
threshold before taking action. We repeatedly heard from climate
experts that climate misinformation, including climate change
denying narratives, is causing real harm by impeding meaningful
climate action.”...<br>
- -<br>
Former employees say that the company hasn’t always been so
proactive in combating misinformation. In an episode of the Slate
podcast Thrilling Tales of Modern Capitalism, some of the first
members of Pinterest’s public policy team said they faced internal
pushback for trying to institute the company’s early policies
against vaccine misinformation around 2018, even though those same
policies later earned the platform good press. “It was a familiar
pattern where I would be punished internally for what I was
pushing,” former public policy manager Ifeoma Ozoma said on the
podcast episode, adding that she would face accusations of being too
aggressive that are commonly levied against Black women. “But then
the public praise would be the type of thing that Ben Silbermann,
the CEO, would stand on the stage of an ad conference and talk about
in order to get more advertisers.” (Ozoma has also accused the
company of discrimination. Pinterest denied the accusations at
first, but then apologized for its culture and pledged to make
changes.)<br>
<br>
One cynical reason for Pinterest’s climate change move: it could be
trying to draw attention to the fact that the platform is a place to
look for green living ideas. In its press release announcing the new
policy, the company reported that it was seeing six times as many
searches for the term “zero waste tips” compared to last year, and
that searches for “zero waste lifestyle” had increased by 64
percent. As with its previous initiatives against coronavirus and
vaccine misinformation, the coverage from the press has been largely
positive.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://slate.com/technology/2022/04/climate-change-pinterest-ban-hoax-misinfo.html">https://slate.com/technology/2022/04/climate-change-pinterest-ban-hoax-misinfo.html</a><br>
<p>- -</p>
<i>[ Pinterest statement should have been issued from day one of
business ]</i><br>
<b>Combating climate misinformation on Pinterest</b><br>
April 6, 2022 - Company<br>
Ensuring that Pinners find ideas from trusted sources no matter what
type of inspiration they are looking to discover on the platform
—from how they cook, the way they shop, build their home, and how to
live a more sustainable life —is important to Pinterest. That’s why
today, Pinterest is rolling out a new climate misinformation policy
to keep false and misleading claims around climate change off the
platform. Our new policy makes Pinterest the only major digital
platform to have clearly defined guidelines against false or
misleading climate change information, including conspiracy
theories, across content and ads.<br>
<br>
As part of our Community guidelines on misinformation and
disinformation, our climate misinformation policy removes content
that may harm the public’s well-being, safety or trust, including: <br>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>-- Content that denies the existence or impacts of
climate change, the human influence on climate change, or that
climate change is backed by scientific consensus. <br>
False or misleading content about climate change solutions that
contradict well-established scientific consensus.<br>
---Content that misrepresents scientific data, including by
omission or cherry-picking, in order to erode trust in climate
science and experts.<br>
--- Harmful false or misleading content about public safety
emergencies including natural disasters and extreme weather
events.<br>
-- All ads on Pinterest always have to comply with our Community
guidelines. Additionally, we’ve updated our Advertising
guidelines to explicitly prohibit any ads containing conspiracy
theories, misinformation and disinformation related to climate
change. <br>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
“Pinterest believes in cultivating a space that’s trusted and
truthful for those using our platform. This bold move is an
expansion of our broader misinformation guidelines, which we first
developed in 2017 to address public health misinformation, and have
since updated to address new and emerging issues as they come to the
forefront. The expanded climate misinformation policy is yet another
step in Pinterest’s journey to combat misinformation and create a
safe space online,” said Sarah Bromma, Pinterest’s Head of Policy.<br>
<br>
Searches for a greener life are rising on Pinterest. People are
regularly turning to Pinterest to find ideas to incorporate
sustainability into their entire lifestyle as searches for "zero
waste tips" were 6X greater, “recycling clothes ideas” were 4X
higher, “recycled home decor” increased by +95% and “zero waste
lifestyle” increased by +64% compared to last year.*<br>
<br>
Tackling issues like climate change or misinformation are complex,
and requires the support and collaboration of an entire ecosystem.
We have partnered with experts including the Climate Disinformation
Coalition and the Conscious Advertising Network to help inform and
develop our policy based on common misinformation themes they’re
seeing across media platforms.<br>
“Climate disinformation on digital platforms is a serious threat to
the public support needed to solve the climate crisis. Pinterest has
demonstrated great leadership by creating a community standard that
includes a definition of climate misinformation, and we will
continue to press all platforms for transparency and reporting on
their actions. We encourage others to take note of Pinterest’s
efforts to reduce climate change disinformation,” said Michael Khoo,
Climate Disinformation Co-Chair at Friends of the Earth.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://newsroom.pinterest.com/en/post/combating-climate-misinformation-on-pinterest">https://newsroom.pinterest.com/en/post/combating-climate-misinformation-on-pinterest</a><br>
<p><br>
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<br>
<i>[ new energy process - highly aspirational - MIT invention ]</i><br>
<b>A new heat engine with no moving parts is as efficient as a steam
turbine</b><br>
The design could someday enable a fully decarbonized power grid,
researchers say.<br>
Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office<br>
April 13, 2022<br>
Engineers at MIT and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
have designed a heat engine with no moving parts. Their new
demonstrations show that it converts heat to electricity with over
40 percent efficiency — a performance better than that of
traditional steam turbines.<br>
<br>
The heat engine is a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell, similar to a
solar panel’s photovoltaic cells, that passively captures
high-energy photons from a white-hot heat source and converts them
into electricity. The team’s design can generate electricity from a
heat source of between 1,900 to 2,400 degrees Celsius, or up to
about 4,300 degrees Fahrenheit.<br>
<br>
The researchers plan to incorporate the TPV cell into a grid-scale
thermal battery. The system would absorb excess energy from
renewable sources such as the sun and store that energy in heavily
insulated banks of hot graphite. When the energy is needed, such as
on overcast days, TPV cells would convert the heat into electricity,
and dispatch the energy to a power grid.<br>
<br>
With the new TPV cell, the team has now successfully demonstrated
the main parts of the system in separate, small-scale experiments.
They are working to integrate the parts to demonstrate a fully
operational system. From there, they hope to scale up the system to
replace fossil-fuel-driven power plants and enable a fully
decarbonized power grid, supplied entirely by renewable energy.<br>
<br>
“Thermophotovoltaic cells were the last key step toward
demonstrating that thermal batteries are a viable concept,” says
Asegun Henry, the Robert N. Noyce Career Development Professor in
MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. “This is an absolutely
critical step on the path to proliferate renewable energy and get to
a fully decarbonized grid...<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://news.mit.edu/2022/thermal-heat-engine-0413">https://news.mit.edu/2022/thermal-heat-engine-0413</a><br>
- -<br>
[ From the Journal nature ]<br>
<b>Thermophotovoltaic efficiency of 40%</b><br>
13 April 2022<br>
Alina LaPotin, Kevin L. Schulte, Myles A. Steiner, Kyle
Buznitsky,... <br>
<b>Abstract</b><br>
<blockquote>Thermophotovoltaics (TPVs) convert predominantly
infrared wavelength light to electricity via the photovoltaic
effect, and can enable approaches to energy storage1,2 and
conversion3,4,5,6,7,8,9 that use higher temperature heat sources
than the turbines that are ubiquitous in electricity production
today. Since the first demonstration of 29% efficient TPVs (Fig.
1a) using an integrated back surface reflector and a tungsten
emitter at 2,000 °C (ref. 10), TPV fabrication and performance
have improved11,12. However, despite predictions that TPV
efficiencies can exceed 50% (refs. 11,13,14), the demonstrated
efficiencies are still only as high as 32%, albeit at much lower
temperatures below 1,300 °C (refs. 13,14,15). Here we report the
fabrication and measurement of TPV cells with efficiencies of more
than 40% and experimentally demonstrate the efficiency of
high-bandgap tandem TPV cells. The TPV cells are two-junction
devices comprising III–V materials with bandgaps between 1.0 and
1.4 eV that are optimized for emitter temperatures of
1,900–2,400 °C. The cells exploit the concept of band-edge
spectral filtering to obtain high efficiency, using highly
reflective back surface reflectors to reject unusable sub-bandgap
radiation back to the emitter. A 1.4/1.2 eV device reached a
maximum efficiency of (41.1 ± 1)% operating at a power density of
2.39 W cm–2 and an emitter temperature of 2,400 °C. A 1.2/1.0 eV
device reached a maximum efficiency of (39.3 ± 1)% operating at a
power density of 1.8 W cm–2 and an emitter temperature of
2,127 °C. These cells can be integrated into a TPV system for
thermal energy grid storage to enable dispatchable renewable
energy. This creates a pathway for thermal energy grid storage to
reach sufficiently high efficiency and sufficiently low cost to
enable decarbonization of the electricity grid.<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04473-y">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04473-y</a><br>
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<i>[ Information causes change ]</i><br>
<b>Analysis: How UK newspapers changed their minds about climate
change</b><br>
By Josh Gabbatiss, Sylvia Hayes, Joe Goodman and Tom Prater.<br>
The past decade has seen a significant shift in the attitudes of UK
newspapers towards climate change, according to new analysis
undertaken by Carbon Brief.<br>
Drawing from a database of more than 1,300 editorials, which are the
formal “voice” of a newspaper, this work examines how the language
used to describe human-caused climate change, as well as renewables,
fracking and nuclear power, has shifted since 2011.<br>
<br>
The analysis shows that the number of editorials calling for more
action to tackle climate change has quadrupled in the space of three
years, mirroring a wider increase in news coverage of the topic.
Nowhere has this shift been more apparent than among the nation’s
right-leaning newspapers.<br>
<br>
Between 2011-2016 editorial articles in publications such as the
Sun, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail generally opposed action
to tackle climate change, citing “unreliable” science and
“expensive” environmental policies...<br>
- -<br>
<b>KEY FINDINGS</b><br>
<blockquote>
<p>-- The past decade has seen a significant shift in the
attitudes of UK newspapers towards climate change, according to
new analysis undertaken by Carbon Brief.</p>
-- Drawing from a database of more than 1,300 editorials, which
are the formal “voice” of a newspaper, this work examines how the
language used to describe human-caused climate change, as well as
renewables, fracking and nuclear power, has shifted since 2011.<br>
<br>
-- The analysis shows that the number of editorials calling for
more action to tackle climate change has quadrupled in the space
of three years, mirroring a wider increase in news coverage of the
topic. Nowhere has this shift been more apparent than among the
nation’s right-leaning newspapers.<br>
<br>
-- Between 2011-2016 editorial articles in publications such as
the Sun, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail generally opposed
action to tackle climate change, citing “unreliable” science and
“expensive” environmental policies.<br>
</blockquote>
- -<br>
<b>Editorial database</b><br>
Carbon Brief has been running its editorial database since April
2016, capturing leading articles in the UK press on matters relating
to energy and climate change.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/how-uk-newspapers-changed-minds-climate-change/">https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/how-uk-newspapers-changed-minds-climate-change/</a><br>
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<i>[ emerging activism ]</i><br>
<b>Scientists Stage Worldwide Climate Change Protests After IPCC
Report</b><br>
Over 1,000 scientists from 25 countries took part in the Science
Rebellion’s demonstrations last week..<br>
The group, called the Scientist Rebellion, writes in a letter that
“current actions and plans are grossly inadequate, and even these
obligations are not being met.<br>
- -<br>
The Scientist Rebellion members have led several protests before,
including at COP26 in Glasgow, at universities across the U.K. and
in front of the Royal Society, per its website. Last year, the
organization leaked a draft of the IPCC report. <br>
<br>
"Scientists are particularly powerful messengers, and we have a
responsibility to show leadership," Charlie Gardner, a conservation
scientist at the University of Kent, tells AFP. "We are failing in
that responsibility. If we say it's an emergency, we have to act
like it is."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-stage-worldwide-climate-protests-after-ipcc-report-180979913/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-stage-worldwide-climate-protests-after-ipcc-report-180979913/</a><br>
- -<br>
[ here they are ]<br>
<b>We are scientists, calling for a climate revolution</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://scientistrebellion.com/">https://scientistrebellion.com/</a><br>
- -<br>
<b>Our Demands Letter</b><br>
The letter below was written collectively by Scientist Rebellion,
and outlines our positions and demands.<br>
<br>
If you are an academic or other scientist, you can join over 200
signatories and put your name to this letter using this form or the
embed form to the right of this.<br>
<br>
The list of current signatories, as well as references, can be found
below the letter.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://scientistrebellion.com/our-positions-and-demands/">https://scientistrebellion.com/our-positions-and-demands/</a><br>
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</i></p>
<i>[ Forbes looks for an answer in entertainment technology ]</i><br>
<b>Is Netflix Transforming How Hollywood Approaches Climate Change?</b><br>
Marshall Shepherd - - Senior Contributor<br>
Apr 13, 2022<br>
<br>
Many people stream Netflix to binge watch their favorite shows or
movies. As a climate scientist, it has been interesting to watch the
impact of “Don’t Look Up.” It is Netflix’s second most-watched
English-language film of all time. However, they didn’t stop with
the movie. They created an entire community to enable engagement on
the climate crises. On April 13th, Netflix continued to flex its
muscle in the environmental and climate space with the release of
its Sustainability Collection. Do these efforts position Netflix as
a climate change and sustainability influencer?<br>
- - <br>
In 2021 Business Insider’s Katie Canales dissected the demographics
of Netflix’s users. While analysts say the streaming service looks
like the typical American profile, Canales points out that typical
user traits include: millennial, earns less than $50,000, and more
females (barely), suburban, liberal to moderate. With 74 million
users in the U.S. and Canada along, according to Business Insider,
the service can certainly reach a lot of people. Only time will tell
if efforts like the “Don’t Look Up” community or Sustainability
Collection are actually influencing things or simply entertaining
people.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2022/04/13/is-netflix-transforming-how-hollywood-approaches-climate-change/?sh=f03bbf51b7ae">https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2022/04/13/is-netflix-transforming-how-hollywood-approaches-climate-change/?sh=f03bbf51b7ae</a><br>
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</p>
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<i>[ Some are viewing our condition with acceptance -- collapse
awareness ] </i><br>
<b>Just Collapse</b><br>
Just Collapse is an activist platform dedicated to justice in face
of inevitable and irreversible global collapse.<br>
- -<br>
Just Collapse advocates for a Planned Collapse to avert the worst
outcomes that will follow an otherwise unplanned, reactive collapse.<br>
<br>
Just Collapse recognises that there will be no justice in an
unplanned collapse.<br>
We wish to acknowledge indigenous peoples, the traditional owners
and custodians of the land; and pay respect to elders past, present
and emerging.<br>
<br>
<b>Collapse</b><br>
Mass biodiversity extinction, coupled with collapsing ecosystems,
and self-reinforcing climate feedback loops, including
out-of-control methane release, immediately threaten all of humanity
and all life on earth. Collapsologists document that infinite growth
on a finite planet inevitably leads to the transgression of
planetary boundaries. Collapse is the result of exceeding these
limits to growth, overwhelmingly by developed countries.<br>
<br>
Transitioning to clean energy and sustainable technologies will push
us even faster and further over planetary limits.<br>
<br>
Terminating dependence on fossil fuels will collapse agriculture,
economies and societies, and exacerbate climate change.<br>
<br>
The nature and scale of degrowth required to bring us within
planetary limits also meets the definition of collapse.<br>
<br>
Collapse is inevitable, but justice is not.<br>
<br>
<b>Justice</b><br>
Just Collapse acknowledges that responsibility for our current
predicament predominantly lies with developed nations which have
reaped profits and prosperity from colonialization, extractive
industry, and infinite growth. We recognise that unplanned collapse
exacerbates the violence already enacted upon people and places
through these processes.<br>
<br>
Furthermore, Just Collapse recognises that the effects of collapse
are first felt by those already marginalised, disadvantaged, and
dispossessed.<br>
<br>
Just Collapse advocates for a Planned Collapse which demonstrates
and embodies these recognitions.<br>
<br>
<b>Planned Collapse</b><br>
The Earth is in overshoot due to the legacy of colonialization, the
continuance of extractive industry, and infinite growth (e.g.
energy, consumption, population). Planetary limits have been
exceeded. This is suicide.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://justcollapse.org/">https://justcollapse.org/</a><br>
<br>
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</p>
<i>[ good question ]</i><br>
<b>‘I was enjoying a life that was ruining the world’: can therapy
treat climate anxiety?</b><br>
Moya Sarner -- 12 Apr 2022<br>
People are increasingly looking for help to deal with feelings of
fear, helplessness and guilt amid the climate crisis. But can
therapists make a difference and is seeking treatment just a form of
denial?...<br>
- -<br>
This emotional state includes feelings as varied as fear and
helplessness, guilt, shame, loss, betrayal and abandonment, and it
can take different shapes in each individual. Anouchka Grose, a
psychoanalyst and the author of A Guide to Eco-Anxiety, How to
Protect the Planet and Your Mental Health, says some patients
describe staying awake all night thinking of coral reefs, bush fires
and ice caps melting. Some might “walk into a shop and freak out
because they suddenly see it as it is,” how “all the things in front
of you are in damaging forms of packaging, freighted from goodness
knows where, covered in pesticides”. In her book, someone describes
looking at a friend’s take-away coffee: “It makes me sad and
alarmed, imagining millions of people out there, just like him, with
one throwaway plastic cup, millions of times over every day.”...<br>
- - <br>
The biggest ever scientific study on climate anxiety and young
people, published last year in the Lancet, found that nearly six in
10 people aged 16 to 25 were very or extremely worried about climate
breakdown, nearly half of them reported climate distress or anxiety
affecting their daily lives, and three-quarters agreed that “the
future is frightening”. All the therapists I spoke to reported
seeing a significant increase in climate anxiety in their consulting
rooms. So, can therapy help?...<br>
- -<br>
There is a danger, in suggesting that therapy might help, of
pathologising climate anxiety; turning it into a mental health
problem that needs to be cured – medicated or spirited away with
mindfulness or talking therapy . Many people I interviewed were
faced with such reactions from friends, family, colleagues, GPs,
and, occasionally, even therapists.<br>
<br>
This is not how the author of Psychological Roots of the Climate
Crisis Sally Weintrobe thinks. “It is important to say that anxiety
is a signal that there is something wrong. It’s a perfectly normal
healthy reaction to a worrying situation. We mustn’t pathologise
climate anxiety. Obviously it can get very extreme – but I would say
that government inaction on the climate crisis is pretty extreme, so
it’s hardly surprising that people are very worried.” What Knapp,
James and Perrin said helped them most was having their emotions
validated in therapy – and understanding that their feelings were
meaningful and valuable...<br>
- -<br>
Caroline Hickman, a psychotherapist, climate psychology researcher
and board member of the Climate Psychology Alliance, says, “I would
worry about people who aren’t distressed – given that this is what
is happening, how come?” She believes that people are using
psychological defences such as denial “as a way of coping and
reducing the fear that they feel”. This can leave the
climate-anxious with a sense of isolation, frustration and
abandonment, as others tell themselves, “Oh, well, the government
will save us; technology will save us; if it was that bad, somebody
would have done something,” she says. “Those are all
rationalisations against existential terror of annihilation – and
that’s the reality of what we’re potentially looking at.”<br>
<br>
To face this reality is to come out of what Weintrobe calls “the
climate bubble”, which, she says, “has been supported by a culture
of uncare, a culture that actively seeks to keep us in a state of
denial about the severity of the climate crisis”. She explains: “The
bubble protects you from reality, and when you start seeing the
reality, it’s hardly surprising that you’re going to experience a
whole series of shocks.” She prefers the term climate trauma over
anxiety because “it is traumatising to see that you are caught up in
a way of living, whether you like it or not, that makes you a victim
and a perpetrator of damaging the Earth, which is what keeps us all
alive”. We are living, she says, “in a political system that
generates a mental health crisis, because it places burdens on
people that are too much to bear, as well as burdens on the Earth”.<br>
<br>
The thing about trauma is that it can reignite earlier, individual
trauma. That experience of coming out of the climate bubble and
having your worries dismissed, of realising that you have been
abandoned by people who were supposed to look after you, can be
particularly triggering. For Weintrobe, this is where therapy can
have a role to play, “in helping people to disentangle what is
personal to them and their own individual histories, from what is
hitting them from the outside”.<br>
<br>
Perrin describes how speaking to her therapist helped in ways she
didn’t expect. She says: “Having that space to have those
conversations and be honest about how I felt was really valuable. I
went into it thinking I wanted practical advice about how to solve
this, but that was not what I got and not what I needed. It helped
me to understand that what I was feeling was not wrong.” It also
helped her to get a better sense of her anxiety: “I think it might
come from feeling lots of things and not actually understanding what
they are.” She still experiences anxiety, but it doesn’t escalate in
the way it did before. “I know that it’s rooted in something real,
and that even if the situation doesn’t change, the intensity of that
feeling can, and will, pass.”<br>
<br>
As a climate-anxious pupil at school, James was told that this
feeling was “irrational” by the therapist they saw at the time. It
was while reading article after article late at night that James
landed on one about climate anxiety, and recognised their own
experience. They decided to try treatment again, and contacted
Patrick Kennedy-Williams. First, they say, he told them their fears
were valid and rational. Then they discussed how to get a better
balance of climate news by also reading positive stories about
people who are taking action, as well as limiting internet access on
their phone.<br>
<br>
This brings to mind how, in her climate-aware therapeutic work,
Hickman draws on her experience, in the 1990s, of treating young
people, who were HIV positive, with about a year to live. A
significant number were, through therapy, “able to change their
relationship with their diagnosis and not just live in fear of
death, but learn to live their lives wholeheartedly, with death as
part of it,” she says. They left relationships that were
unsatisfactory, left jobs that they hated, and “they learned to live
their lives fully and with meaning, not in denial that their lives
might be shorter, but that that didn’t have to define their lives –
it was just part of it”.<br>
<br>
It is perhaps surprising to hear Weintrobe – a psychoanalyst – say
that while there is a role for therapy in addressing climate
anxiety, it is limited. We need to normalise this distress, she
says, but not by pretending it’s not there, or shouldn’t be. “It’s
very perverse that normalising has come to mean getting rid of
anything that’s disturbing. Can we make it normal that we are very
disturbed and bothered by what is going on, and help each other?”
She recommends meeting to talk in groups about climate anxiety, such
as at the climate cafes run by the Climate Psychology Alliance.
Hickman runs psycho-educational groups with youth activists to
address the impact of the climate crisis on mental health, where
they discuss ways to support themselves and each other.<br>
<br>
Elouise Mayall, 24, and living in Canterbury, is a master’s student
in ecology and a climate activist with the UK Youth Climate
Coalition who has taken part in Hickman’s groups and workshops. Her
climate anxiety began when she left university and realised how
unconcerned others were – what she calls leaving the “green bubble”.
In her 20s, she felt intense pressure, guilt, shame and anxiety to
produce less and do everything to make up for what others were not
doing. After joining UKYCC, her anxiety started to improve, through
being part of a community. She says that Hickman’s workshops have
helped her and her colleagues to recognise “the emotional strain” of
the work they do, and to learn to rest. They are now far more
“mindful of each other’s mental health”, and people don’t feel
guilty when they need a break, so are less likely to “crash and
burnout”.<br>
<br>
Mayall has also developed a different relationship with her climate
anxiety. Previously, she says, “I was very dismissive and grumpy
about having it. I wanted to suppress it or get rid of it – I
thought it was an indulgence because people are dying, so why was I
fussing around with feelings?” She felt she should be happy all the
time. Now, she recognises that “it isn’t bad, wrong, or inconvenient
for me to have climate anxiety, because it ultimately means that I
care about the climate crisis”. She uses an ecological metaphor to
describe how she relates to her feelings now: “Biodiversity is
important because the more complex an ecosystem is, the more stable
it is, and the more resilient it is to any disturbances or damage
that comes along”. A monoculture, such as the one Knapp saw from
that plane in Borneo, makes for a very fragile ecosystem; the same
is true of an emotional monoculture. Allowing herself to experience
whatever emotions she is feeling, including guilt and shame, has
brought her a kind of emotional biodiversity, and a more sustainable
way of life.<br>
<br>
Since starting therapy James has attended a climate cafe, signed up
to workshops, written to their local MP and published articles
online to spread awareness.<br>
<br>
Perrin says therapy has helped her support herself and other
activists. She is now researching microscopic algae, and their
potential to help us live more sustainably.<br>
<br>
After what he saw in Borneo, and his research into the apocalyptic
impact of climate breakdown, Knapp’s view of the world and of his
future collapsed. He felt betrayed by the government, and despairing
of the inaction of those around him. He became increasingly isolated
and, for a time, suicidal. He found a way out of this by joining
Extinction Rebellion, where friends recommended a therapist. He has
since changed his life, becoming a researcher in air quality and a
climate activist, giving up his beloved Mini, going vegan and making
a podcast with fellow activists about how they cope with climate
anxiety and what inspires them . He hasn’t been on a plane since.<br>
<br>
These stories recall a comment from Grose, that the word “anxious”
has two definitions: one can feel anxious due to a nebulous fear, or
one can be anxious to do something – to be willing to act, with
urgency.<br>
<br>
As I researched this article, I noticed an intensifying feeling of
unease and tension. Last week, the IPCC reported that it is “now or
never” if we are to stave off climate disaster, and the UN secretary
general, António Guterres, warned: “Some government and business
leaders are saying one thing – but doing another. Simply put, they
are lying. And the results will be catastrophic.” I know I need to
read the report, to see the scientific reality of where we are, but
I am not, yet, able to. I am frightened to leave the climate bubble.
I tell Weintrobe about my anxious feelings, and she says reporters
often phone her and say, “I feel overwhelmed, being a climate
journalist.” I find her next words strangely hopeful. “I feel
overwhelmed, too. Sometimes, I find myself lying on the sofa, unable
to move because it’s all so worrying. But you get out of it, and you
carry on.”<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/12/climate-anxiety-therapy-mental-health">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/12/climate-anxiety-therapy-mental-health</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<i>[The news archive - looking back]</i><br>
<font size="5"><b>April 14, 1964</b></font>.<br>
<br>
Writer and biologist Rachel Carson, whose 1962 book "Silent Spring"
galvanized a generation to take environmental concerns seriously,
passes away at 56.<br>
<blockquote>Miss Carson, thanks to her remarkable knack for taking
dull scientific facts and translating them into poetical and
lyrical prose that enchanted the lay public, had a substantial
public image before she rocked the American public and much of the
world with “Silent Spring.”<br>
<br>
This was established by three books, “Under the Sea Wind,” “The
Sea Around Us,” and “The Edge of the Sea.” “The Sea Around Us”
moved quickly into the national best-seller lists, where it
remained for 86 weeks, 39 of them in first place. By 1962, it had
been published in 30 languages.<br>
<br>
“Silent Spring,” four-and-a-half years in preparation and
published in September of 1962, hit the affluent chemical industry
and the general public with the devastating effect of a Biblical
plague of locusts. The title came from an apocalyptic opening
chapter, which pictured how an entire area could be destroyed by
indiscriminate spraying.<br>
<br>
Legislative bodies ranging from New England town meetings to the
Congress joined in the discussion. President Kennedy, asked about
the pesticide problem during a press conference, announced that
Federal agencies were taking a closer look at the problem because
of the public’s concern.<br>
The essence of the debate was : Are pesticides publicly dangerous
or aren’t they?<br>
<br>
They Should Be Called Biocide<br>
<br>
Miss Carson’s position had been summarized this way:<br>
<br>
“Chemicals are the sinister and little-recognized partners of
radiation in changing the very nature of the world--the very
nature of life.<br>
<br>
“Since the mid-nineteen forties, over 200 basic chemicals have
been created for use in killing insects, weeds, rodents and other
organisms described in the modern vernacular as pests, and they
are sold under several thousand different brand names.<br>
<br>
“The sprays, dusts and aerosols are now applied almost universally
to farms, gardens, forests and homes--non-selective chemicals that
have the power to kill every insect, the good and the bad, to
still the song of birds and the leaping of fish in the streams--to
coat the leaves with a deadly film and to linger on in soil--all
this, though the intended target may be only a few weeds or
insects.<br>
<br>
“Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of
poison on the surface of the earth without making it unfit for all
life? They should not be called ‘insecticides’ but ‘biocides.’”<br>
<br>
The chemical industry was quick to dispute this.<br>
<br>
Dr. Robert White-Stevens, a spokesman for the industry, said:<br>
<br>
“The major claims of Miss Rachel Carson’s book, ‘Silent Spring,’
are gross distortions of the actual facts, completely unsupported
by scientific, experimental evidence, and general practical
experience in the field. Her suggestion that pesticides are in
fact biocides destroying all life is obviously absurd in the light
of the fact that without selective biologicals these compounds
would be completely useless.<br>
<br>
“The real threat, then, to the survival of man is not chemical but
biological, in the shape of hordes of insects that can denude our
forests, sweep over our crop lands, ravage our food supply and
leave in their wake a train of destitution and hunger, conveying
to an undernourished population the major diseases scourges of
mankind.”<br>
<br>
The Monsanto company, one of the nation’s largest chemical
concerns, used parody as a weapon in the counterattack against
Miss Carson. Without mentioning her book, the company adopted her
poetic style in an article labeled “The Desolate Year,” which
began: “Quietly, then, the desolate year began. . .” and wove its
own apocalyptic word picture--but one that showed insects
stripping the countryside and winning.<br>
<br>
As the chemical industry continued to make her a target for
criticism, Miss Carson remained calm.<br>
<br>
“We must have insect control,” she reiterated. “I do not favor
turning nature over to insects. I favor the sparing, selective and
intelligent use of chemicals. It is the indiscriminate, blanket
spraying that I oppose.”<br>
<br>
Actually, chemical pest control has been practiced to some extent
for centuries. However it was not until 1942 that DDT, a synthetic
compound, was introduced in the wake of experiments that included
those with poison gas. Its long-term poisonous potency was
augmented by its ability to kill some insects upon contact and
without being ingested. This opened a new era in pest control and
led to the development of additional new synthetic poisons far
more effective even than DDT.<br>
<br>
As the pesticide controversy grew into a national quarrel, support
was quick in going to the side of Miss Carson.<br>
<br>
Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, an ardent naturalist,
declared, “We need a Bill of Rights against the 20th century
poisoners of the human race.”<br>
<br>
Earlier, an editorial in The New York Times had said:<br>
<br>
“If her series [then running in part in The New Yorker publication
of the book] helps arouse public concern to immunize Government
agencies against the blandishments of the hucksters and enforces
adequate controls, the author will be as deserving of the Noble
Prize as was the inventor of DDT.”<br>
<br>
Presidential Report<br>
<br>
In May 1963, after a long study, President Kennedy’s Science
Advisory committee, issued its pesticide report.<br>
<br>
It stressed that pesticides must be used to maintain the quality
of the nation’s food and health, but it warned against their
indiscriminate use. It called for more research into potential
health hazards in the interim, urged more judicious care in the
use of pesticides in homes and in the field.<br>
<br>
The committee chairman, Dr. Jerome B. Wiesner, said the
uncontrolled use of poisonous chemicals, including pesticides, was
“potentially a much greater hazard” than radioactive fallout.<br>
<br>
Miss Carson appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce,
which was hearing testimony on the Chemical Pesticides
Coordination Act, and a bill that would require labels to tell how
to avert damage to fish and wildlife.<br>
<br>
“I suggest,” she said, “that the report by the President’s Science
Advisors has created a climate in which creation of a Pesticide
Commission within the Executive Department might be considered.”<br>
<br>
One of the sparks that caused Miss Carson to undertake the task of
writing the book (whose documentation alone fills a list of 55
pages of sources), was a letter she had received from old friends,
Stuart and Olga Huckins. It told of the destruction that aerial
spraying had caused to their two-acre private sanctuary at Powder
Point in Duxbury, Mass.<br>
<br>
Miss Carson, convinced that she must write about the situation and
particularly about the effects of spraying on ecological factors,
found an interested listener in Paul Brooks, editor in chief of
the Houghton-Mifflin Company, the Boston publishing house that had
brought out “The Edge of the Sea.”<br>
<br>
As to her own writing habits, Miss Carson once wrote for 20th
Century Authors:<br>
<br>
“I write slowly, often in longhand, had with frequent revision.
Being sensitive to interruption, I writer most freely at night.<br>
<br>
“As a writer, my interest is divided between the presentation of
facts and the interpretation of their significance, with emphasis,
I think toward the latter.”<br>
<br>
“Silent Spring” became a best seller even before its publication
date because its release date was broken. It also became a best
seller in England after its publication there in March, 1963.<br>
<br>
One of Miss Carson’s greatest fans, according to her agent, Marie
Rodell, was her mother. Miss Rodell recalled that the mother, who
died of pneumonia and a heart ailment in 1960, had sat in the
family car in 1952 writing letters while Miss Carson and Miss
Rodell explored the sea’s edge near Boothbay Harbor. To passers-by
the mother would say, pointing, “That’s my daughter, Rachel
Carson. She wrote “The Sea Around Us.”<br>
<br>
People remembered Miss Carson for her shyness and reserve as well
as for her writing and scholarship. And so when she received a
telephone call after the publication of “The Sea Around Us,”
asking her to speak in the Astor Hotel at a luncheon, she asked
Miss Rodell what she should do.<br>
<br>
The agent counseled her to concentrate on writing. Miss Carson
nodded in agreement, went to the phone, and shortly came back and
said somewhat helplessly: “I said I’d do it.”<br>
<br>
There were 1,500 persons at the luncheon, Miss Carson was “scared
to death,” but she plunged into the talk and acquitted herself. As
part of her program she played a recording of the sounds of
underseas, including the clicking of shrimp and the squeeks of
dolphins and whales. With the ice broken as a public speaker, Miss
Carson continued with others sporadically.<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/10/05/reviews/carson-obit.html">http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/10/05/reviews/carson-obit.html</a><br>
<br>
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