#ecogrief

From the article:

A new MIT-led study confirms that the Antarctic ozone layer is healing, as a direct result of global efforts to reduce ozone-depleting substances. Scientists including the MIT team have observed signs of ozone recovery in the past. But the new study is the first to show, with high statistical confidence, that this recovery is due primarily to the reduction of ozone-depleting substances, versus other influences such as natural weather variability or increased greenhouse gas emissions to the stratosphere. “There’s been a lot of qualitative evidence showing that the Antarctic ozone hole is getting better. This is really the first study that has quantified confidence in the recovery of the ozone hole,” says study author Susan Solomon, the Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies and Chemistry. “The conclusion is, with 95 percent confidence, it is recovering. Which is awesome. And it shows we can actually solve environmental problems.”

My favorite quote from the article:

It can be really hard in the face of so much destruction. I don't know how much anyone can specifically stay positive in the face of disasters like this -

but I can give you some thoughts about how to let hope live alongside everything else you're feeling about this, and how to avoid spiraling and remember that this is not proof that we're doomed.

Possibly relevant note lol is that I've lived my whole life in California, so suffice to say figuring out how to move forward among the consequences and destruction of massive wildfires is something I'm definitely not new to.

I remember walking to my classroom in elementary school, about 20 years ago now, and it was literally snowing ash around me. This too shall pass.

Take a few deep breaths. I know it's cliche but it's also important

Zoom out in terms of perspective: Wildfires can make the sky look apocalyptic (like I said, I have lots of experience with this!), but they are regional, and they always end. These wildfires are awful but this specific wave of fires is happening in just one country in a huge, huge world. There's far more land that isn't burning

Canada is about to get substantial international aid in fighting the wildfires - there are already 200 additional firefighters headed over from the US and France, and Canada (Quebec specifically) is also already in talks with Costa Rica, Portugal, and Chile about additional firefighters/resources. Help is on the way and these numbers really will make a big difference, and as the disaster continues (unfortunately it is uh...pretty early in fire season), more help will be sent. People are doing what they can to help, because in the face of disaster, that's what we're wired to do

There are actually MUCH better fire management plans than just about anyone is using, esp in North America but that we COULD implement and increasingly WILL going forward. A lot of the wildfire situation these days is because of the West's incredibly wrongheaded derision toward traditional Indigenous land and ecosystem management practices, including cultural prescribed burns that keep massive wildfires from happening. California in particular is already partnering with several First Nations to revive prescribed burns, to significant success. As fires continue to be terrible, more and more places will get on board with this. We can and will implement practices that will truly change our situation

Cultural burns work because, ironically, the reason for the wildfires is that "is that we've been so good at putting out every fire possible that it has led to overly dense forests and a buildup of burnable material like branches and dry vegetation" that makes wildfires much worse in a number of ways. At lower intensity, however, as with cultural burns, forest fires can actually have huge environmental benefits

Finally, every time a natural disaster happens like this, as awful and destructive as they are, it serves as a wake-up call for thousands of people and adds both ever-mounting urgency and ever-mounting evidence to the importance of fighting climate change, which really does translate into action. For a lot of people, "saving the environment" feels super distant - but you know what feels super immediate? Saving their homes from burning down (or getting flooded or otherwise destroyed, etc. etc.) In 2021, the UN ran the world's largest climate survey, across 1.2 million people and 50 nations, and almost TWO-THIRDS SAID THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS A GLOBAL EMERGENCY THAT WE NEED TO WORK HARDER TO ADDRESS. Imagine that 10 years ago! That other third of people aside, this really is real and massive progress

Also, every time there's a big disaster like this, climate change deniers look more and more baldly ridiculous. Think about it: How often did you hear US Republicans bullshitting about climate change denial 10 years ago? And how often do you hear them doing it now? In fact, there's increasing evidence that Republicans really are shifting on climate change (mind you they're managing to do it in an obnoxiously somehow pro-fossil-fuel way, but it's still a major sea change). Some of them are literally calling for a clean energy transition, and Kevin McCarthy himself (guy in charge of the US House right now) created a task force for to a conservative climate change agenda that acknowledges climate change is real. There's now a conservative climate conference that does active lobbying and a House Conservative Climate Caucus, which somehow has SIXTY MEMBERS. Again, something that would've been unimaginable just six or seven years ago.

Every acre that the fires burn this year is an acre that's pretty guaranteed to not burn next year, for what that's worth. (And I do think it's worth mentioning, esp with such a high number of acres)

The battles are going to be hard, but I truly believe that even the ones we lose often bring us closer to winning the war.

I'll say similar things to what I've told this person--your grief and despair are real and powerful. I completely empathize with your depression and your fears....so many people agree with you, are in pain with you. it can be overwhelming, an unbearable burden...

BUT, There IS HOPE. You must keep looking for it. You are not carrying this burden alone. You Cannot Give Up because there is No Other Option but keep trying, to adapt. That is what this planet and all that have lived on it have done since before we even existed and it is what we must continue to do.

The other choice is to give up and accept that we can't change anything, that it is too late, to accept that we are going to lose it all....it can become a self fulfilling prophecy if we let it....but the truth is that despite all our data and our educated predictions we cannot know the future. We can only work right now in the present, learn from the past and work for that better future.

I promise you that you are not alone in your fears and that things ARE CHANGING. THINGS ARE BEING DONE. Every day, by people all over the world, in small ways and in big ways. People Want to Be Better. The very planet itself is trying to help us and when we in turn help the planet, amazing things happen. We have everything we need on this earth to solve our problems and those solutions are as complex and multiple as the issues. There is no one thing that is going to save us. It's going to be all of us. And we need you.

Things are going to feel, look, seem worse before they get better because we've been on this track for a long time now...but they ARE getting better--we know what the problem is and many nations, groups, communities, and individuals are pushing for change, for movement and IT IS HAPPENING. It is unstoppable. The media and the major news outlets are going to only ever show the worst, the most extreme because that is what keeps people watching. I'm not saying that the news isn't real or concerning but we also MUST CELEBRATE THE VICTORIES that happen every day. They add up.

I think you are incorrect in saying that 'every thing we do as humans harms the planet'. As an indigenous person, I KNOW this is untrue. We are not inherently bad for this world. We are the stewards of the land, the keepers of the earth....we are the younger siblings of creation and we have been given an amazing gift TO CREATE and to shape the land around us in ways that benefit everyone. It wasn't long ago that we lived differently. It wasn't long ago that we began this struggle. And today so many people around the world are doing good, hard work for us all and for our planet.

we have a responsibility to the world (our ancestors and descendants included) to keep fighting, to keep going, to have hope....there is always time. It isn't over until it is over. We must imagine a future.

I recommend that, if possible, you step away from any stressful news sources. This does not mean you do not care--as clearly that is not the case. But, the human mind was not meant to hear about all the bad news happening in the world, we cannot cope with constant terror.

Find one thing, one action, one thing you care about and pour your heart into that. even if it may seem minuscule in comparison to the massive knot of problems we have, every action creates a reaction...you can make a difference. you create ripples wherever you walk.

From the article:

This is obviously a really complicated topic that can't just be addressed in a single list, but there are some really good tips here and they draw from some excellent leaders/activists in this area.

If this is something that you need today, I hope this list can direct you to some good resources to draw on in the future!

From the article:

This is from the Global Electricity Review 2025 by Ember. Although this isn't something you are going to see in newspaper headlines, the progress we made with renewables in 2024 is a pretty big deal and if you're someone who likes a lot of data and graphs it's really worth reading.

I'm going to leave this video here because Hank Green does a better job of covering it than I am going to.

"This to me feels like news. It feels like a big deal. It feels like things are changing, like we are hitting a moment with electricity generation that really does matter. And over the next five years we will hit the point where we are generating less and less energy with fossil fuels every year. That's great. And that's not news. I didn't see anyone covering this [...]. It's not news because it's not bad and it's also not news because it's not like 'we did it, we hit the moment!'."

I think this quote from Hank's video does a good job of encapsulating how the slow, gradual progress that is happening often doesn't make it into the news--because it's not a dramatic emergency or a "we did it, we fully solved climate change!" kind of moment that makes for good headlines.