Interesting way to look at the consequences of climate change:
Australia is suffering through its worst dry spell in a millennium. The outback has turned into a dust bowl, crops are dying off at fantastic rates, cities are rationing water, coral reefs are dying, and the agricultural base is evaporating.But what really intrigues Glenn Albrecht — a philosopher by training — is how his fellow Australians are reacting.
They’re getting sad.
Clive Thompson on How the Next Victim of Climate Change Will Be Our Minds.
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And how do you feel about solastalgia? Can you identify with what is happening to people affected by drought – ie, do you too feel a sense, mild or major about how your physical environment might be changing around you?
I attribute this a bit more to a new sense that the future will not be the one of endless material expansion that we were promised as children. The sadness is linked to a sense of helplessness about an inability to do much to make the path ahead easier. I think humans are pretty adaptable as long as they can see a light at the end of the tunnel.
An irony is that clinging to past comforts will only make things worse.