A recent study reported that some 40% of childless couples today were so, at least in part, because of climate change and not wanting to bring a child into the world they fear is coming. The number is so large that its source and methods require checking, but let’s just say the number is large. Similarly, there have been several studies over the last few months reporting on the level of anxiety and unhappiness among college age young people, and again, hopelessness in the face of a changing climate is attributed as one of the main factors.
I have spent my entire professional career working to repair and reverse damage people have done to earth’s places, and yet however much repair we achieve, loss and degradation spread faster. Yet, honestly, (most days) I see tremendous potential, and don’t share the despair. Why?
My own view shifted from despair to pleasure and resolve one day when I stood on the side of a volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. At dusk I watched glowing red lava flow into the sea. All around me were black rocks and black sands derived from previous, not-that-long-ago, lava flows. “The earth is making new land,” I thought. “Things are not just old and wearing down and being lost.”
Life continues to bubble forth in the face of climate change and invasive species. New life colonizes lava just as soon as it cools enough to allow it. Life, beautiful, amazing life, will persist and grow and change and spread in the face of whatever people may throw at it. Realizing that, I believe, is one antidote to fear and despair.
