It's hard to get your head around climate change. And it's not just you - our brains simply aren't wired to think about problems at that scale. And why would they be? Understandably, this can lead to all kinds of mental outcomes that don't actually solve the problem. In fact, it's counterproductive.
Dr. Sarah Ray is an author and professor of Environmental Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt. On Climate Magic, she connects the dots between how you feel about the climate and your agency to do something about it. She explores the big and small questions about your relationship with the climate: what happens to your own mental health when you're proactive about climate solutions? What do we know about PTSD for wildfire survivors? How do culture and your brain conspire to make you want to stick your head in the sand? What exactly is climate anxiety, and how can someone get past it? What's Gen Z got to say about it all?
She'll also highlight the everyday citizens who are rolling up their sleeves, despite--and because of -- their debilitating despair. Climate Magic is about the emotional life of climate politics. You want to thrive in the Anthropocene, and the planet needs you to tap the root of your inner skills to build a better world. It's not rocket science... it's Climate Magic.
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More from Sarah Jaquette Ray:
A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet
NPR's Hidden Brain: When it's All Too MuchKCRW: Helping Students Cope with Stress Around Climate Change
Harvard Political Review: On Climate Emotion
Climate Change and Happiness: Coping with Climate Anxiety on Campus with Sarah Jaquette Ray
In This Climate: Existential Loneliness, the Climate Crisis, and Intrinsic Hope
KCET: "Overwhelmed by Climate Change? Try Reframing Your Impact
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Neurosurgeon Ann-Christine Duhaime, author of Minding the Climate, explores how our tendency to prioritize short-term consumer pleasures spurs climate change, but also how the brain’s amazing capacity for flexibility can—and likely will—enable us to prioritize the long-term survival of humanity. -
A researcher makes the case that your social life can help change society. -
Does gluing your hand to a Van Gogh painting, in order to draw attention to the evils of the fossil fuel industry, gain sympathy for your cause? -
We often look to young people to give us hope for the future. But for young people themselves, that’s a huge burden to carry. -
What if helping address climate change were akin to trying to start a fire without matches? In this beautiful conversation, Bonita draws a parallel between her attempts to start fire with a bow drill and the way she hopes we can all keep showing up in the world, and not give up. -
In this conversation with Dr. Jade Sasser, an expert on climate change and reproductive justice, we explore why women of color in particular are worried about having kids. -
In this conversation with Grist magazine data journalist, “recovering neuroscientist,” and author Clayton Page Aldern, we explore the myriad ways that a changing environment changes our brains and bodies. -
Why should we lean into ecological grief, rather than shun, fix, or repress it? What does “grief literacy” look like, and why might our ecological crisis require us to gain those skills? What does the inability to lean into grief mean for the climate crisis, and how might we collectively leverage grief for political change?
