climate grief

English

Etymology

Blend of climate change +‎ grief.

Noun

climate grief (uncountable)

1. Grief caused by fear of climate change.

   Synonym: climate despair

   Hypernym: ecological grief

   • 2018 December 24, Avichai Scher, “'Climate grief': The growing emotional toll of climate change”, in NBC News:

     Jennifer Atkinson, a professor of environmental humanities at the University of Washington in Bothell, will teach her second course on climate grief next semester. She offers the course to students in the environmental studies program to help prevent the burnout that can develop by confronting the problem daily.

   • 2019 July 18, Victoria Knight, “‘Climate Grief’: Fears About The Planet’s Future Weigh On Americans’ Mental Health”, in Kaiser Health News:

     Although it is not an official clinical diagnosis, the psychiatric and psychological communities have names for the phenomenon: “climate distress,” “climate grief,” “climate anxiety” or “eco-anxiety.”

   • 2020 April 2, Panu Pihkala, “Climate grief: How we mourn a changing planet”, in BBC Future:

     I’ve guided workshops and given dozens of public lectures, especially in Finland, my home country. And I’ve met a lot of people with climate grief and eco-anxiety.