Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss

Climate change is increasingly understood to impact mental health through multiple pathways of risk, including intense feelings of grief as people suffer climate-related losses to valued species, ecosystems and landscapes. Despite growing research interest, ecologically driven grief, or ‘ecological...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature climate change 2018-04, Vol.8 (4), p.275-281
Main Authors: Cunsolo, Ashlee, Ellis, Neville R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/477
704/106/694/2739/2807
706/689/694/2739/2807
Climate Change
Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecological monitoring
Ecological studies
Ecosystems
Environment
Environmental Law/Policy/Ecojustice
Landscape
Mental disorders
Mental health
Perspective
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Summary:Climate change is increasingly understood to impact mental health through multiple pathways of risk, including intense feelings of grief as people suffer climate-related losses to valued species, ecosystems and landscapes. Despite growing research interest, ecologically driven grief, or ‘ecological grief’, remains an underdeveloped area of inquiry. We argue that grief is a natural and legitimate response to ecological loss, and one that may become more common as climate impacts worsen. Drawing upon our own research in Northern Canada and the Australian Wheatbelt, combined with a synthesis of the literature, we offer future research directions for the study of ecological grief. Climate change has a gradual influence on landscapes and ecosystems that may lead to feelings of loss for those with close ties to the natural environment. This Perspective describes existing research on ecological grief and outlines directions for future inquiry.
ISSN:1758-678X
1758-6798
DOI:10.1038/s41558-018-0092-2