This TED Talk features science storyteller, author, and broadcaster Britt Ray, recorded live at TED Residency 2019.

For all that's ever been said about climate change, we haven't heard nearly enough about the psychological impacts of living in a warming world.

If you've heard the grim climate research that science communicators like me weave into our books

and documentaries, you've probably felt bouts of fear, fatalism, or hopelessness.

If you've been impacted by climate disaster, these feelings can set in much deeper,

leading to shock, trauma, strange relationships, substance abuse,

and the loss of personal identity and control.

Vital political and technological work is underway to moderate our climate chaos,

but I'm here to evoke a feeling in you for why we also need our actions and policies

to reflect an understanding of how our changing environments

threaten our mental, social, and spiritual well-being. The anxiety, grief, and depression

of climate scientists and activists have been reported on for years. Trends are seen after

extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy or Katrina for increased PTSD and suicidality.

And there are rich mental health data from northern communities where warming is the fastest,

like the Inuit and Labrador, who face existential distress as they witness the ice,

a big part of their identity, vanishing before their eyes.

Now, if that weren't enough, the American Psychological Association says

that our psychological responses to climate change, like conflict avoidance, helplessness,

and resignation are growing. This means that our conscious and unconscious mental processes

are holding us back from identifying the causes of the problem for what they are, working on

solutions, and fostering our own psychological resilience,

but we need all those things to take on what we've created.

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