Fear is innate within our human nature.
Ever since our origins as a species protecting the resources vital for our survival has been ingrained within our being. Water. Food. Shelter. Therefore, it is not surprising that when someone tells you the planet you call home is on fire, a surge of panic rises within you.
The term Eco-anxiety was first coined by scientists in 2017 to designate a chronic fear of environmental doom. So far Eco-anxiety has not been added to the list of diagnosable mental disorders and personally I believe this to be a good thing. To put Eco-anxiety on the list would be to deny a generation of young people the access to identifying with this term because. Clinically they aren’t ill.
We are undoubtedly living in a period of environmental uncertainty. What is more, the Coronavirus pandemic has elevated this uncertainty to unprecedented levels in recent months. The questions are how has Corona affected popular feelings on Eco-anxiety and how will it shape the future we are so justifiably worried about? I am going to offer my personal experience of the world around me throughout the pandemic in an attempt to answer this question.
Brave new world?
When the Corona pandemic forced us to close our doors on friends and family no one knew the consequences this would bring. From the confines of our own houses the only connection to the outside world seemed to be through the media and other technological platforms. Through these media we heard of a new kind of invasion that was taking place.
Wildlife conquered cityscapes and waterways. Globally the animal kingdom set out to reconquer stolen habitats, from dolphins roaming the canals of Venice to a puma stalking the streets of Chile’s capital, Santiago. Meanwhile the skies seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as toxic greenhouse gases dispersed and cleared. In northern India people stared in awe at a view of the Himalayas that had previously been shrouded in a 30 year smog.
Corona seemed to be nature’s way of forcing us to take time out to think about our actions and the consequences they were having. We were given a view of what our planet could look like when humans were forced to change their way of life. Despite the isolation we began to realise the beauty and resilience of our planet. Personally I sensed the beginning of a tentative hope for the environment we called home, an opportunity to be seized.
On second thoughts …
Opportunities such as these don’t come often. They need to be seized in the moment and acted upon. The world began to make plans for the reopening of society. To my dismay, there was no consciousness of the opportunity we had been given for our planet.
It seemed that Corona, and the economic fallout it brought in its wake, had monopolised the news, snatching the focus away from the climate emergency. Instead of emerging into a healthier planet we witnessed the creation of new ways of damaging it: masks littering the oceans and killing wildlife, the skies clouding over once more from toxic pollution.
Personally, I felt more disillusioned than ever.
That feeling of tentative hope began to feel increasingly fragile. To me and many young people it was starting to shatter. The fear was rising again. While I came to terms with this, governments around the world plundered on, full of incompetence, and ignorant toward the anxiety of the young people they were supposed to represent.
An Unbreakable System
Previously I expressed my frustration about government incompetence. But the crux of the issue goes beyond frustration. Governments are stuck in a societal system that is unhealthy for us and our planet. We are locked in a system of global growth that emphasises an ugly dimension of human nature: self-interest.
In fact, what goes to the very heart of Eco-anxiety is the unfortunate truth that we are trying to create a sustainable future that is completely at odds with the economic system we are living in. The creation of such a future, built on selflessness and the collaboration of all nations and cultures, is trying to emerge from a system that gives the top 1% an equal amount of wealth to that available to the rest of the planet. For me this creates an overwhelming feeling of helplessness.
However, paradoxically it is the system itself that is causing its own downfall. The global trade of wildlife is what transmitted Corona to humans in the first place. In simple terms the system was at the origins of the pandemic which caused it to break down. The fragility of such a system can only spark one sentiment.
Persistence of Hope
When Pandora unleashed terror from a box, one thing remained. Hope.
It is arguably the most powerful feeling in the world. It spurs people to action. It is unrelenting. It is forever loyal to the belief that the world can be better. It is human.
The pandemic has ultimately provided us with the hope that things can, must and will change. Corona has shown that we can no longer remain in a system so incompatible with the well-being of the planet we live on. In the pre-Corona world, we were simultaneously the disease and victim of the changes we have been wreaking on our environment. But Corona has also shown that we now have the opportunity to become the cure. Personally that makes me excited, not worried.
By Mathilde Corcoran, 1st year Geography student
Photo credits: Eswyn Chen
DISCLAIMER: THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OR OPINIONS OF COMPASS MAGAZINE AS A WHOLE OR THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY