Middle Class Lifeboat Blog

 
  by Paul Edwards, JD and Sarah Anne Edwards,
  PhD, LCSW

  Articles on what is being called “eco-anxiety”   
  have begun appearing in periodicals of late,
  including some in the New York Times. The
  term is being used to refer to the psychological
  response to the proliferation of news about a constellation of environmental events such as global warming, climate change, resource depletion, species extinction, and ecological degradation.

Actually, the term is a misnomer. It is reflecting a far-broader, more serious concern that is spreading rapidly across the land.

Anxiety usually refers to either vague, undefined discomfort or irrational fear out of proportion to the likelihood or impact of the feared events. Neither definition applies to understanding today’s eco-concerns arising what needs to be done in response to them.

The economic effects of global warming, resource depletion, and other environmental crises are neither vague nor irrational. The resulting “anxiety” many Americans are feeling is growing rapidly because we are beginning to see the painful effects of this reality in our daily lives. (more…)