Discussion Have you witnessed the impact of climate change in your surroundings over the years? Has it made you more depressed?

[StrugglingSienna]

I'm only 23 years old, but I have. The summers here have only gotten even more brutal over the years and so have the hurricanes, but that's whatever. The thing that I think about all the time as we're getting closer to Summer is where did my lightning bugs go? There used to be countless lightning bugs in the forest near me during the summer when I was a kid. Now, as far as I can tell, there are absolutely none. I've looked hard. They aren't there. I wonder how much other wildlife has also dwindled that I just haven't noticed yet.

Maybe some of the ancients here (24+) can weigh in more.

 

[TheHolySword]

The world I thought I knew as a kid is not the one I inherited as an adult. Though I'm fairly young, too, so maybe my opinion doesn't count for much.

 

[ConfusedClouds]

I am lucky in that I have not seen any significant local issues immediately/directly affecting me. 'Just' the changes in seasonal and day-to-day weather. But super aware of everything on the news - both from other areas of my country, region and further afield.

The bit that scares me the most is the blase attitude of lazy zero action of people in society. Simple actions not taken. (Usually under the summary/zero accountability of: corporates and profits dgaf) That's the part that really gets me.

 

[SomewhatLoved]

I'm 20. Some people older than me have told me there used to be so many bugs that when you were driving on the highway you would have to pull over and scrape them off the windshield sometimes in the summer.

Where I live in Canada we used to have long and steady winters. Sometimes it would be snowing on the first week of school in early September and it wouldn't stop until April. Now, it' uncommon that there's snow before Halloween. Last year, it snowed in November but then melted and there wasn't any that stuck on the ground until mid December. Our winters have gotten significantly shorter, and also more severe. The coldest it used to be was maybe -35C, but now there are sometimes weeks that it goes down to -45C or -50C during daylight, and overnight it gets to be below that. Similarly in the summer it's gotten a lot hotter and drier. I remember as a kid "fire bans" (where you get fined for having a firepit or something like that) was rare and pretty much unheard of. Now? Pretty much all summer there are fire bans. Every year without fail we have massive forest fires that require millions upon millions of dollars of funding for wildland firefighting programs. Our government even pays firefighters from other countries to come and help fight the fires in Canada. When I was a kid you would occasionally hear about small fires, but not like this - and they happen now every year without fail.

It definitely makes me feel depressed. Being in a hot, dry, dusty city sucks. Summer used to be awesome - it was nice and warm outside but rarely so hot that you were uncomfortable and nothing was so dry and dusty.

 

[ForeverCaHa]

Winters when I was a child were bitterly cold. The past 4 years or so have been mild - the last two christmases I went out in just a t-shirt and a light jacket. Daffodils come out really early too. They used to be a March flower, but now you see them in early February.

Not as extreme as other parts of the world, but it's noticeable and worrying still.

 

[WhatCouldHaveBeen32]

Winters when I was a child were bitterly cold. The past 4 years or so have been mild - the last two christmases I went out in just a t-shirt and a light jacket. Daffodils come out really early too. They used to be a March flower, but now you see them in early February.

Not as extreme as other parts of the world, but it's noticeable and worrying still.

I can relate, haven't had a winter with good snow in Romania for 10 years at least, same flowers you mentioned come out a month earlier now aswell and snowdrops come out like we are living in the Northen hemisphere, early february instead of late february/early march.

Summers in Romania get insanely Hot Aswel, we can plant banana trees in some places with no problems...in 10 years Kiwi , Olives and Bananas will probably be a normal occurance, hell I have a neighbour that has a giant ass fig tree that makes delicious figs and doesn't need to be covered in the winter at all.

 

[MathConspiracy]

I'm quite young but I've noticed that the weather has gotten more extreme here. Due to drastic temperature changes in winter, the roads are always icy and slippery and I have to wear special shoes with spikes on the bottom. By "drastic" I mean ranging from -15°C to +1 within a short interval of time. There are no more -30°C days like there used to be just a few years ago. Does it make me depressed? Not really. Over the few weeks I've gotten into a state where I don't feel depressed anymore. I simply don't feel.

 

[Malfunction]

I've certainly noticed it.

An example, I live in a coastal area. We once had a healthy population of lynx. They have been moving further north to colder areas.

Bobcats have been moving in from southern areas. While we've had both, we're seeing the linx be replaced. For awhile, both populations were sinking, but it seems they are rebounding a bit which is good news.

What isn't helping is temperature change and that our local government allows the spraying of glysophates which affects us all. Our local oil tycoons destroy natural habitats. While they do replant trees they take, animals never seem to return to these areas.

What they take is hardwood and replant softwood (softwood takes half the time to grow). So their harvest areas are mostly void of animals. Spraying poison aside, the areas are just too neatly planted, its not natural looking and likely provides very little shelter for any animal.

 

[Gustav Hartmann]

I am not depressed at all, but the climatic hystery in my country makes my angry. Basically I like it hot, spend my holydays in warm regions and like to swim in the warm sea.

 

[SVEN]

I recall that when I was growing up in Britain we used to go home in the late afternoon with spots of melted tar on our sandshoes & bare legs from melted tar in the streets in the blazing hot summers. At that time I vaguely recall the dire warnings of a coming ice age due to the world cooling down.
Nowadays it seems a bit rainier where I live, however the threatened ice age never occurred and there hasn't been any noticeable decrease in the midges which plague our Scottish summers.

 

[MathConspiracy]

I recall that when I was growing up in Britain we used to go home in the late afternoon with spots of melted tar on our sandshoes & bare legs from melted tar in the streets in the blazing hot summers. At that time I vaguely recall the dire warnings of a coming ice age due to the world cooling down.
Nowadays it seems a bit rainier where I live, however the threatened ice age never occurred and there hasn't been any noticeable decrease in the midges which plague our Scottish summers.

I visited London a few years ago in July and was taken aback by the fact that all the grass was dead and yellow. After that, I traveled to Edinburgh in January. It was so warm that I had to wear my spring jacket. Context: it's March here in my country and I'm still wearing my winter coat.

 

[Forveleth]

40 here. I lived somewhere where we would get feet of snow in the winter. I would walk in it and, even as an adult, the snow would come up to my knees or sometimes even my hips. I have gone trick-or-treating in the snow, and definitely couldn't start wearing shorts until May.

Now we have winters where we barely get any snow at all. Summer lasts half way through October and starts in April. It is sunnier, hotter, and drier every year.

I have reverse seasonal affective disorder, so this is my absolute nightmare and it very heavily contributes to my depression.

 

[SVEN]

I visited London a few years ago in July and was taken aback by the fact that all the grass was dead and yellow. After that, I traveled to Edinburgh in January. It was so warm that I had to wear my spring jacket. Context: it's March here in my country and I'm still wearing my winter coat.

Last July in Scotland there were days when people had their central heating on ... how I'd love to be going out in January in Glasgow without several layers of heavy clothing. As a Scot, living in Scotland, you were exceptionally well blessed if you found Edinburgh in January warm for a day.

 

[ventingfrustrations]

Ah climate change the thing that might actually have humanity kill itself in a manner of speaking barring other factors

 

[opheliaoveragain]

i'm not gonna name my city but we are likely to be one of the first to have an entire area become uninhabitable due to climate changes. it's definitely distressing and has pushed on my already suicidal thoughts quite often. i've been displaced by weather events. I have ptsd from it. it's not fun at all.

 

[CarrotEater]

15-ish years ago my family had to clear snow every day during winter. Now we never have to do that.
That's a benefit, even though I know climate change is a negative thing.

What makes me depressed is the reasons why we do nothing about it. Deliberate misinformation, willingful ignorance, selfishness makes me more depressed. "Easily preventable" wars are making me much more depressed. If things will continue to go the way they are, climate change is the least of our issues.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'm 45 and from the UK. Yes, I'd say the UK gets more extreme weather now. We're regularly getting weather warnings for wind and rain. Far more occurrences of flooding. Summer seems to appear and end later it feels to me. My Dad also says he remembers more insects being around.

It both saddens and worries me. Maybe not directly to a suicidal level. I reckon I'll be dead before it gets really bad. I'm grateful I haven't left offspring to witness and contribute to it. Really though, it's just this sadness that we've f*cked up this planet for so many of the other creatures that depend on it. I don't like being a part of that.

 

[SVEN]

I'm 45 and from the UK. Yes, I'd say the UK gets more extreme weather now. We're regularly getting weather warnings for wind and rain. Far more occurrences of flooding. Summer seems to appear and end later it feels to me. My Dad also says he remembers more insects being around.

It both saddens and worries me. Maybe not directly to a suicidal level. I reckon I'll be dead before it gets really bad. I'm grateful I haven't left offspring to witness and contribute to it. Really though, it's just this sadness that we've f*cked up this planet for so many of the other creatures that depend on it. I don't like being a part of that.

We've certainly seen more flooding in our town in Scotland in recent years: it's just challenging to be sure of the causes. It's years since our street drains were cleaned and in heavy rain I see the water bubbling back up out the stanks because the drains can't cope. And it must be decades since our local river was dredged and any weeds cleared back. So it would be easy to believe the flooding where I live is owing to global warming, but the infrastructure here is no longer maintained as it was 20+ years ago.

 

[bigsad123]

Yeah I live north of 60°N but nowadays were lucky to have any snow all winter.

 

[Nobody'sHero]

I don't believe in man made climate change...

 

[StrugglingSienna]

I don't believe in man made climate change...

Where'd my got dang fireflies go then? Facts don't care about your feelings.

 

[Nobody'sHero]

Where'd my got dang fireflies go then? Facts don't care about your feelings.

Your fireflies are in my near by forest now!

 

[to fall to winter]

Winters used to be pretty harsh here. Snowstorms, four feet of snow, etc... now we're lucky if it's below freezing in the "coldest" time of the year. I miss the snow.

 

[galaxid]

That one year where NYC was basically orange because of the smoke was a big one. I live in PA now and the air quality sucks but that year it was so crazy I had to scrape the soot off my table outside. Stuff outside was visibly brown.

Also, hurricanes. Granted Katrina and Sandy were a while back but the damage was insane. The subways near the water in NYC were messed up for years after Sandy, I think. The tracks were rusted so going through there was like nails on a chalkboard. For like 10 minutes straight.