Climate Change Article

 Climate Crisis and Ecopsychology

Earth's climate - affects and is affected by - human psychological climate.

Climate is Everything

Earth's climate, unique in its processes, determines where and how we all live out our life stories, histories, and cycles.

The same ecological processes that affect complex narratives and behaviors of Earth climate affect the complexity of narratives and behaviors of our psychological climate.

We live with a responsive planet. Climate behavior responds to interconnected ecological-social-economic behavior patterns. When there is ecological climate damage, there is social strife and economic fallouts.

Now, we are trying to figure out how to respond to a planet that has responded to our detrimental behavior and practices. This is an ecopsychological issue.

Earth's climate behavior is comprised of relationships among the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biogeochemical cycles intra-acting with the behavior and activities of all lifeforms, including humans.

That is, human behavior and practices co-shape the climate; what we do matters for the habitability and livability of all life on Earth. Humans are of the climate.

Whale intra-actions with their ocean environment co-shape climate. When whales breach and dive, they extend deep into the waters to push nutrients from the depths to the surface. The upwelling of nutrients mix with whale fecal plumes to support the extraordinary diversity of marine life, and the ocean's ability to absorb vast amounts of carbon. Great whales are the carbon-capture titans of the animal world, absorbing an average of 33 tons of CO2 each throughout their lives. Whale participation with ecological processes helps to maintain the climate. Whales are of the climate.

Climate phenomena are due to how each lifeform's behavior and activities, ecological processes, linked systems and cycles all fit together invisibly.

Climate in Crisis

The world's climate crisis is a real-time on the Earth rupture of daily lives and livelihood, destruction of habitats and resources, loss of critical ecosystems, and interdependent nonhuman and human ecologies.

When human exceptionalism and their extraction practices rupture carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur cycles, we disrupt the atmospheric chemistry of greenhouse gases – the very cycles that support a habitable climate and life on Earth – a climate in crisis results.

When unconscious human behavior and practices rupture biospheric, hydrospheric, and lithospheric processes by land-use change (e.g., deforestation, mining, overfishing, loss of diversity), industrial livestock and agricultural practices that now use half of the planet's habitable land – a climate in crisis results.

Destructive practices based on supremacy narratives drive behavior toward the planet. These kinds of narratives foster detached, indifferent, and uninformed views that perpetuate existential anxiety, fear, despair, helplessness in the face of ecological damage, and deep grief over planetary damage and loss of home and life.

This is the psychological crisis driving the climate crisis.

Ecological Psychology: Change the Narrative - Change the Behavior

While it is essential and imperative the world adhere to climate regulations, reduction in polluting greenhouse gases, and transition to renewable energies - regulations and policy do not change behavior.

Ecopsychological education is the most powerful tool we have available for changing human narratives and their despoliating behavior and practices. This is why Viridis offers a course in Climate Crisis and Ecopsychological Applications within our timely curriculum.

Understanding how energy exchange, diversity - multiplicity, intra-actions and waste, change, relationality, decay - renewal (ecological and psychological composting) processes underpin all ecologies including the human psyche is how to transform narrative, behavior, and practice.

Humans are the climate – responsibly and irresponsibly. What is at stake is nothing less than a planet that no longer functions to shape a livable climate for all – in other words ... existence.