Climate and Biodiversity Anxiety

Climate and Biodiversity Anxiety

I want to talk about climate and biodiversity anxiety

It has been two months since I last blogged. I have been doing different things from work, holidays and recording. This Summer has been a weird one for me, and I am still figuring out why so.

Inclement weather has meant that I have not been doing as much entomology as I had thought I would. My botany this year has also taken a hit, but I have made a few nice discoveries, namely, Greater Butterfly Orchids in Upper Fathom which were stunning. Overall, however, I have not been recording as much as I should. A part of it is exhaustion, but a bigger part of it is consciously (and subconsciously), avoiding going out to places and recording. I believe this is in order to avoid frustration, disappointment and resentment. These feelings are directed at seeing how our natural environment is vandalised and destroyed, whether it is hedge-cutting, eutrophication or wide-scale removal of woodland and scrubland. Trying to relieve these feelings by visiting habitat-rich places is dampened by the fact that I have not been seeing as many butterflies, bumblebees, solitary bees or hover-flies that there should be, further re-determining my overall dissatisfaction.

But by restricting myself to indoors, I feel disappointed in myself and my mental health suffers. It is not natural or normal for me to be indoors for prolonged periods of time, since I find solace in natural places. I have realised that this feeling of hopelessness is probably a symptom of climate anxiety. I feel dread about the near future when the lack of butterflies is normalised and algal blooms in our rivers and lakes are viewed as natural as the water itself. I wonder to myself why people do certain things: excessively cutting grass, planting invasive plants or spraying weed-killer. I wonder because I cannot come up with an answer. In the end, I become recluse to avoid laying eyes upon these activities, and in doing so, I neglect myself of the bees, dragons, trees and flowers which will surely disappear if I do not record and befriend them. Learning that an important aspect of being an ecologist, like many things, is facing the ugly truth, even if it breaks your heart.

I understand that compared to world affairs currently, this is hardly existential. However, this is only my own personal story about a larger and festering climatic issue which many millions of people in the global south are very aware of. Even in Ireland, we are facing challenges created by anthropogenic climate change and ill-managed biosecurity practices. Some of us feel this in our blood, it is visceral and impending. Others, either do not take heed, or even worse, do not care.

I am aware this is not very positive, but it is a problem many naturalists experience. For now, I will try and stay connected and grounded, and visit my friends in the woods and the sea; check in on them.

Image: Greater Butterfly Orchid in upland meadow, Upper Fathom ASSI