“What if global warming isn’t only a crisis. What if it’s our best chance to build a better world?”
Naomi Klein
Reports of wildfires, hurricanes, and extinctions are frightening, yet we rarely hear people talking about the mental health impact of these changes. This hour long show explores how coping with the mental health impacts of climate change can actually make us more effective at combating it. We hear stories about the challenge of facing the facts, and emotions including grief, hopelessness, and fear. Finally, we consider how taking action can actually lead us to greater strength, connection, and impact. Safe Space Radio combines compelling storytelling with practical expert guidance to give you the tools you need to find your own courage.
(Errata: In an earlier version of this show, John Kaiser was incorrectly identified as a professor at UNC, rather he is an instructor at Wake Technical Community College in North Carolina. This has been corrected.)
Tips & Strategies for Coping and Getting Engaged (PDF)
Listen to Stories From the Episode
Resources
From Our Guests
- Healing After Irma
Anne Bequette - Environmental Melancholia
Dr. Renee Lertzman - SustainUS
Aneesa Khan - Why I Disrupted the White House Fossil Fuel Panel at the United Nations Climate Talks
Maia Winkler—Teen Vogue - Climate Anxiety Counseling
Kate Schapira - Climate for Health
Dr. Lise van Susteren - Protect South Portland
Rachel Burger
Further Reading & Listening
Books
- An Inconvenient Truth
Al Gore - The Great Derangement
Amitav Gosh - Drawdown: the Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Climate Change
Ed. Paul Hawken - This Changes Everything
Naomi Klein - Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re In Without Going Crazy
Joanna Macy - Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change
George Marshall - The Madhouse Effect
Michael Mann & Tom Toles - The End of Nature
Bill McKibben - Learning to Die in the Anthropocene
Roy Scranton - Climate Shock: Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet
Gernot Wagner & Martin L. Weitzman - The Uninhabitable Earth
David Wallace-Wells
General Resources for Learning About Climate Change
- Climate Change: How Do We Know?
NASA Earth Science Communications - Global Oneness Project
- 13 Misconceptions About Global Warming (Video)
Derek Muller - Our Climate, Our Future
- One Thing You Can Do—Know Your Climate Facts
Susan Shain & Esther Horvath—New York Time - Climate Change Myths
Skeptical Science
Climate Change & Mental Health
- Climate Change’s Toll on Mental Health
American Psychological Association - First Step to Stop Eco-Grieving Over Climate Change? Admit There’s a Problem.
Judy Fahys—NPR - Climate Change and Mental Health: Risks, Impacts, and Priority Actions
Katie Hayes et al.—International Journal of Mental Health Systems - What Psychotherapy Can Do for the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis
Caroline Hickman—The Conversation - How Hope and Doubt Effect Climate Change Mobilization
Jennifer R. Marlon, et al.—Frontiers in Communication - We Need Courage, Not Hope, to Face Climate Change
Kate Marvel—OnBeing - Scientists Share Their Grief, Anger, and Hope Over Climate Change (Video)
Peter Sinclair—Yale Climate Connections - Climate Lab Playlist (videos)
Vox - Why Climate Change Does Not Scare Us (Yet)
Elke U. Weber—Climatic Change - Climate Change in the American Mind
Yale Center for Climate Change Communications - Coronavirus Doubters Follow Climate Denial Playbook
Yale Climate Connections
Talking About Climate Change
- How to Talk Effectively About Climate Change
Max Boykoff—Scientific American - Reassessing Emotion in Climate Change Communication
Daniel Chapman, Brian Lickel, and Ezra Markowitz—Nature Climate Change - The Most Important Thing You Can Do to Fight Climate Change: Talk About It
Katherine Hayhoe—TED Talk - 6 Tips for Talking to Kids About Climate Change
Anya Kamenetz—NPR - Is There a Climate ‘Spiral of Silence’ in America?
Edward Maibach et al.—Yale Program on Climate Change Communication - How to Talk About Climate Change so People Will Listen
Charles C. Mann—The Atlantic - The Secret to Talking About Climate Change (Video)
Our Climate, Our Future - The Role of Emotion in Global Warming Policy Support and Opposition
Nicholas Smith and Andy Leiserowitz—Risk Analysis - Children’s Books About Climate Change
Yale Climate Connections
Climate Justice
- Lessons from 40 Years of Documenting Environmental Racism
Dr. Robert Bullard—The Revelator - 7 Young Indigenous Activists Standing Up for Their Communities
Jackie Menjivar—DoSomething.org - Carbon Majors Cannot Put Their Interests Before Humanity’s Survival
Kumi Naidoo—Amnesty International - Why Climate Change is Anti-Justice (Video)
PBS Digital Studio - The Health Impacts of Climate-Related Migration
P Schwerdtle et al.—BMC Medicine - I Survived Climate Disaster, But I Don’t Want to Be a Climate Statistic
Marinel Ubaldo—Teen Vogue
Helpful Organizations
- Climate Action
- Climate for Health
- Earth Guardians
- Energy Justice Network
- Fossil Free
- Institute for a Sustainable Future
- Movement Generation
- NAACP Environmental & Climate Justice Program
- Our Climate Voices
- Project Drawdown
- Sunrise Movement
- SustainUS
- UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
- Zero Hour
- 350.org
We’d love to hear from you! If you have a story about climate courage—or a comment for one of our guests—please leave us a voicemail at 617-600-8419.
