Solastalgia..as Albrecht defined it in a 2004 essay, Solastalgia is “manifest in an attack on one’s sense of place, in the erosion of the sense of belonging (identity) to a particular place and a feeling of distress (psychological desolation) about its transformation.” from an article in the Los Angeles Times entitled Column: There’s actually a word for the climate change-induced despair you’ve been feeling
Solastalgia Emotional disquiet about negative changes in one’s environment. Ben Schott in Schott’s Vocab,
Night before last, at about one in the morning, I walked outside just to be outside. Just to wallow in the luxury of the soft, sweet air. It was warm and the sky was clear; I could see the stars. I could hear the crickets and the croaking of a single frog. It made me sad, everything makes me sad. Knowing that there is a word for what I’ve been feeling does not help. It was clear yesterday and warm, a beautiful early fall day, Still, beneath my pleasure, in my soul, I’m deeply despondent. I’m despondent because, as terrible as the last month was, the worst is not over, the worst isn’t even here yet. Next year will be worse and the year after that even worse.
Fires are out of control in Siberia according to Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, who writes that half of the fires in Arctic Russia this year are burning through areas with peat soil—decomposed organic matter that is a large natural carbon source…fires in Arctic Russia released more carbon dioxide (CO2) in June and July 2020 alone than in any complete fire season since 2003 (when data collection began). According to Chris Mooney, writing in the Washington Post, Two Antarctic glaciers that have long kept scientists awake at night are breaking free from the restraints that have hemmed them in, increasing the threat of large-scale sea-level rise…The loss of the glacier could trigger the broader collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet, which contains enough ice to eventually raise seas by about 10 feet. And the list goes on and on.
If, today, we started a World War II like mobilization to confront Climate Change, next year would still be worse. If, today, we started a World War II like mobilization to confront Climate Change, it would keep getting worse for, at least, the next ten years. But we haven’t even started to make plans, let alone actually mobilizing our resources. Our children know this, they know they are growing up in a world that will include more months like the last one and, in the primaries, they voted accordingly, but the adults in the room out voted them. The adults have voted to do as little as possible
I’ve been lucky over the last year starting with the blackouts last October, that I waltzed through, and continuing through the Covid quarantine which, at times, seemed like a nice chance to slow down, almost a vacation. In the background, California – the whole world – is suffering from the World Climate Crisis, in the background, last year, Paradise – a town I don’t think I had heard of before 2019 – was destroyed by wildfire. Even on one of our beautiful fall days, even on this clear sunny day, I can feel a deep sorrow in my body. Actually, I think everybody feels it and that sorrow is a major factor in our collective discontent. But that has changed this year, this year the background has become front and center, this year, Paradise is everywhere. I wonder if it will make a difference.
I’m glad there is a name for it too. Here we are having beautiful fall weather too. But my soul is aware of what is happening out west and the seemingly endless march of tropical storms and it is suffering.
Karen, what is the best time of year there? It used to be Indian Summer here – September-October – but now we live in fear of the “real” fire season.
I feel it too…here in the mountains the smoke from [Colorado’s?] fires is still present. We have a friend, a very interesting young artist, who has been addressing this for awhile now; Nina Elder.
https://www.ninaelder.com/solastalgic-archive
Worth a look…in these unsettling times.
I went to Nina Elder’s website, thanks for the tip. love all the young women who are coming forward.
Here is a pretty darn precise plan to mobilise. Just using the WWII playbook. Not rocket science; maybe needs more of a collective shaman to help us realize our potential.
https://www.vox.com/podcasts/2020/8/27/21403184/saul-griffith-ezra-klein-show-solve-climate-change-green-new-deal-rewiring-america
t seems like a good plan to me but “How to go after the Climate Crisis” is not the real problem, the real problem is “How to develop the political will to do so.” I hopeful that this summer of disasters will help.