We know how to grieve for a lost family member or friend, even a lost pet, but how do we grieve something that is not an identifiable person or animal? How do we grieve our ecosystem, forests, temperatures, and way of life? We are currently on a trajectory toward an increasingly hot and unstable planet. Climate change will not only affect our planet, threatening biodiversity, shrinking glaciers, accelerating sea-level rise, and bringing on more intense heat waves, but it will also affect our mental health. As we witness our planet dying, we view our home falling apart. Climate change effects on mental health have become a widespread study of interest for researchers in recent years. Did you know that climate change is increasingly impacting our mental health through intense feelings of grief? We suffer climate-related losses to valued species, ecosystems, and landscapes. This concept is called ‘ecological grief.’ Globally we will begin to feel a profound sense of loss as the climate emergency worsens. Move on to the diverse selection of resources, videos, and materials below to dig deeper into the topic, and head to the exercises to apply key learnings from this unit!

Climate change affects every aspect of our lives, from physical and mental health to ecological resilience. With all this traumatic sense of loss we are/will experience, will it freeze our action against climate change? As we move towards an increasingly hot and unstable planet, we will begin to experience psychological issues like grief, worry, anxiety, depression, and trauma. These psychological issues can lead us to mindless consumption and passive living. One must stay in the present moment and participate in mindfulness to prevent mindless living. Mindfulness improves physical and mental well-being, leading folks to higher satisfaction with life. When we begin to take care of our well-being, we begin to mobilize ourselves for action. Mindfulness encourages positive and lasting lifestyle changes, which increases positive feelings towards the natural world and pro-environmental behaviors. Through mindfulness, we can handle the challenges posed by climate change. Staying in the present moment, and participating in mindful action, helps us fight climate change. Move on to the videos and materials below to dig deeper into the topic!

We can all be climate activists. We can not stand passively by as our home is dying. As we learned in the last unit, a tool we can use to fight climate change is mindfulness. When it comes to our emotions, we must express our ecological grief that we’re feeling and work together to support each other. Once we begin to acknowledge our emotions, we can turn it into a solution, rather than just a negative feeling. You can launch climate action projects in your home, school, workplace, and community spaces. Climate change can not be fixed by one person, but it can be set by a group of passionate members worldwide. Climate Action Ideas: - Get involved with a local grassroots organization - Reduce your carbon footprint - Start composting - Contact local elected officials and demand emitted climate action - Advocate for climate-change-informed regional land-use planning - Audit the energy efficiency of your office or homes in your community - Encourage fossil fuel divestment - Encourage mindfulness living Move on to the videos and materials below to finish up the course!

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