Essays by Eric Worrall
h/t stratified; Another groan for a dying planet…
Climate grief is real – and I can’t keep watching images of our dying planet
David Shearman
Wednesday, July 5, 2023 01:00 AESTOur leaders’ addiction to economic growth and its consumption of environmental resources has paralyzed me with fear and pain.
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In some people, such as Queen Victoria, the loss of a partner can cause lifelong grief with withdrawal and loneliness.
I realize now that I have a grieving disorder that has developed slowly over the past few decades and is likely to last.
My brain suddenly came up with a diagnosis when I was trying to watch Tim Winton’s series about Ningaloo Nyinggulu, one of the last truly wild and intact places on Earth. I use the word “tried” because it hurts so much that I have to turn it off. After years of working on environmental issues and immersing myself in the wonder and beauty of the natural world, I realized that it would surely die out soon.
Now I can’t see these pictures of a dying partner.
I suspect that this pain may have been forming in my brain since the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires in South Australia and Victoria, which killed 75 people and caused extensive structural and environmental damage. I was able to express my suffering by draw beautiful new epic leaves of rejuvenation. The 2019-20 wildfires overwhelmed me as at least 33 people died, smoke pollution killed more people, and more than 3 billion native animals died or had to be displaced.
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We are slowly realizing that grief for the country has always been with the Aboriginal people and is perhaps increasing as encroachment on their environment has progressed over 200 years since our invasion. That is exacerbated when they realize that their 60,000 years of maintaining their environment have been largely dismissed by the so-called advanced civilization that pays little attention to their experience and knowledge.
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The part that really intrigued me was the inference that Ash Wednesday forest fire bad, that it’s somehow a violation of the traditional owners’ right to oversee the land.
The Ash Wednesday fire was so bad, about 75 people were killed.
But the truth is that the aborigines before the arrival of the whites had more fires than anyone else.
… Saw some smoke along the coast before dark and burned two or 3 times during the night. we lay still driving in front of the Sea until 1am, at which time we had a light breeze from the land we were heading towards NE then at a depth of 38 depth – At noon it was light wind and Veerd to NEBN, we are at Latitude 34°..10′ and Longitude 208°.27′ Wt and about 5 miles from the land extending from S-37° Wt to N1/2E. In this Latitude there are some white rocky outcrops that grow perpendicular to the sea surface at a moderate height …
The Aboriginal people claim that they make a lot of fires because of the wisdom of their land management culture, although all the free BBQ food left behind after the fire can be an added bonus.
To be fair, Aboriginal fires are likely to cause much less damage than the Ash Wednesday fires, because they light them so often. Frequent fires reduce the fuel load, reducing the intensity of the fires. So there may be some wisdom involved.
So why let you, the audience of WUWT, suffer more about the community climate?
Because I believe a response must be made. A seasoned politician once explained to me that you have to challenge every point, or the point will stand. Because such pieces sometimes reach people.
None of us would be free, if we completely ignored such appeals, if we always left such calls for public sympathy unanswered and unchallenged. .
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