Of course, you can get scared if you imagine the consequences of climate change. More fires, worse heat waves, heavier storms, long periods of drought, rising sea levels; a planet that is out of whack. It is only understandable when, according to a recently published international study on climate fear, three out of four young people say they are afraid of the years and decades to come.
It doesn’t make matters any better, however, if, of all people, those who are desperately needed to create a better future are frozen in fear. Of course, it is difficult to make a conscious decision not to be afraid, feelings are never right or wrong. But what about the other emotions that are at least as obvious in relation to the climate crisis?
It doesn’t help if people now acknowledge one another’s fear of the climate
Anger, for example, at the coal, oil and gas lobbyists who have done a lot for decades to prevent actual climate protection. Or the politicians who have long ignored the issue. Grief: For everything that is irretrievably lost, from glaciers to coral reefs. Shame because we as humanity have not been able to deal better with this problem. Disappointment because some things that one would have wished for a beautiful life, for example unrestrained flying to distant countries, may no longer be possible.
It doesn’t help if people now reinforce each other’s fear, possibly really getting into it. Statements along the lines of “We only have x years left, then it’s over” may be well meant, but they can be discouraging, and wrongly so. Time is running out very quickly if you still want to reach the 1.5 degree goal. But people will always have their fate in their own hands, even if there is more scope for damage control today than tomorrow. It is also not the case that the extinction of mankind is already on the horizon, the prognoses simply do not provide that. Lustful doomsday rhetoric, as it is heard over and over again, is neither helpful nor fact-based.
Fear is human, but it can be crippling. Action would be better than fear, courage through anger. In this way, energy can be released that helps to actually want to change something. It’s so easy to say, of course, nobody is in the mood for a crisis after Covid-19. But Corona of all things has shown one thing: that a society can show solidarity when it matters. That can give hope. That too is an emotion, and for a change it is even a positive one.