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Ecological grief

Gaia Vince explores the growing impact of ecological grief, and how climate change is affecting people's mental health.

As the Earth experiences more extreme weather, and wildlife is dying, from corals, to insects, to tropical forests, more people are experiencing ecological anxiety and grief. Science journalist Gaia Vince has been reporting on the growing crisis across our planet’s ecosystems, and has met many who are shocked and saddened by the enormity of the environmental changes taking place. She talks to scientists and medics working at the frontline of environmental change, and hears that, despite being expected to distance themselves from what’s happening, they are affected emotionally.

Ashlee Consulo, of Memorial University on the Canadian island of Labrador, and Courtney Howard, a doctor in Yellowknife, tell Gaia about their experiences of living and working with indigenous peoples in areas where temperatures are rising rapidly and the ice is melting.

Steve Simpson of Exeter University and Andy Radford of Bristol University are both professors of biology who have watched coral reefs become devastated by climate change. Recently they wrote a letter to the journal Science headlined Grieving environmental scientists need support to raise awareness of the issues researchers are facing.

And Gaia visits the aquarium at the Horniman Museum in London, where Jamie Craggs is trying to breed corals for future generations.

Image: Greenland Inuit hunter (Credit: Earl Grad/Getty Images)

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27 minutes

Last on

Mon 27 Jan 2020 00:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Mon 20 Jan 2020 20:32GMT
  • Mon 20 Jan 2020 21:32GMT
  • Tue 21 Jan 2020 05:32GMT
  • Tue 21 Jan 2020 06:32GMT
  • Tue 21 Jan 2020 07:32GMT
  • Tue 21 Jan 2020 11:32GMT
  • Tue 21 Jan 2020 14:32GMT
  • Mon 27 Jan 2020 00:32GMT

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