If I was sitting on this park bench in only three years time, I'd be buried
underneath eight feet of landfill... which seems uncomfortable
we're on what's about to become one of the most expensive miles of coastline in
the whole world. And not because you have to be filthy rich to live in Manhattan,
because of rising sea levels. New York City has just approved a 1.5 billion
dollar plan to strip this park and get rid of everything that you see here – the
benches, the basketball courts, the trees raise it up eight feet, fill it with
landfill, and then build the park again. And this is all to protect Manhattan
from rising sea levels, from storm surges, from hurricanes and from extreme
weather events. And for me, thinking about this city being underwater, the
uncertainty of the future stresses me out, and makes me feel uncomfortable and
worried and kind of tight in my chest. I guess, like most of Manhattan...
I have anxiety.
Do you want me to cut? No, no it's okay it's just that the climate is now
another thing that we have to worry about. And you know, it's not just me. New
terms have been introduced to describe this kind of anxiety that we're all
feeling. Actually in 2017, the American Psychological Association first used the
word "eco-anxiety" which they said is a chronic fear of environmental doom.
I'm sure that some of you might relate to that but to the rest of us, myself
included, I found it a little extreme, right? A chronic fear of environmental
doom. But then for me, a few years passed, and everything changed:
Australia started burning. Now Australia has always had bush fires, but these ones,
they're different – the fire season has started earlier, the
fires are more intense, they're leaving unimaginable damage in their wake. And
this is because of the effects of a warming climate on weather events. It
makes them extreme. Now the people who are in Australia I can't imagine how
they're feeling – they must be dealing with a kind of
direct eco-anxiety right? I mean there's evacuations,
there's property loss, there's the terrible toxic smoke that I'm sure you
have seen pictures of. I can't imagine how horrible it must be. But over here in
New York City, people also feel terrible. People around the world feel terrible
and they want to talk to me about it as an Australian. They have this kind of
indirect eco-anxiety where they're still anxious about the world's events, but
they're not really sure what they can do being so far away. The
fact that everyone wants to talk to me about these fires and nobody wants to
talk about this park that we're in right now, tells us something fascinating about
how our brains work. Have a seat let me tell you about it.
Our brains are wired to deal with direct threats rather than indirect future
problems. They're wired – evolution has shaped them over years and years – to be worried
about what's happening right now. But in terms of climate change and a warming
climate, that's not something that we really have the option to think about.
So this park here, the plan – you know to demolish, to get rid of everything and
raise it up eight feet, has been campaigned against by the residents. They don't
want the park to close, they don't see the problem. And if we wait for the
threat of climate change to be immediate – if we wait for the fire to be on all of
our doorsteps, we're gonna be kind of screwed. And
screwed is putting it lightly, don't you
think? Come walk with me.
Now you might be wondering what the point of this video is. And for those of
us who are feeling eco-anxiety, we get stuck in these cycles of anxiety because
we don't know what we can do to break out of them. We don't know what action is
going to make a difference. And actually that's something that psychologists
recommend – taking action, however small. So you might donate to organizations that
are making a difference, and I'll link to a bunch that are in Australia down in the
description. Other things that can help are small actions, starting small, things that
we can do to help. You might use a metal straw or a reusable cup as a step to
reduce your plastic waste. And you know it's not gonna solve climate change,
especially when I can't even get the lid off this cup to use the straw! But it's
something that might make you feel a little bit better and keep you motivated
to keep going. Activism is something else that's recommended – maybe you could join
a march and if you are feeling severe eco-anxiety, maybe it's something to see
a medical professional about. Maybe eco-therapy will become a thing in the
future? Maybe it already is.
The thing is, if you are anxious about something – when
it's not severe – you're worried and you're stressed ,it means that you care.
And honestly action is the best way to cope.
I never thought that using a metal straw would be beneficial for my psychology...
Okay I did just want to add that it's been a year since I launched
my Patreon! Which has been crazy, I appreciate everyone's support so much. I'm
actually working on a really big project this year, which I'll be able to tell
you about soon. But as always, thank you to my top patrons – there is only one left
and his name is Jason. I probably pronounced that wrong but I
hope that he'll forgive me. A link to my patreon is down in the description as well as the
organizations in Australia if you want to support them. Thank you!