The course CALS 502 – Communication for Climate Action was an opportunity to explore communication techniques that have the potential to connect with audiences over their emotional reactions to the uncertainties of climate change and to better understand what role climate communication has in motivating engagement in climate action.
The feeling of uncertainty is a critical component in almost all types of anxiety. When anxious, we are aware of some but not all facets of a threat or situation. Anxiety and fear are natural responses to uncertainty (Pihkala, 2020). They can quickly develop into a general sense of being overwhelmed and hopeless due to the sheer complexity of the causes, effects, and implications of climate change. Climate Anxiety is the anxiety caused by facing an uncertain and potentially doomed future due to climate change.
For a Tiny Ecology exercise during CALS 502, we were encouraged to explore the Frames of Hope and Fear in climate communication. The title begs the question if hope can balance out fear and a sense of doom within ourselves and in the way we communicate about climate change. Can hope diminish the anxiety caused by unsettling and uncertain climate projections? Can hope balance out uncertainty? Climate scientist and activist Susanne Moser emphasizes that hope also lives in uncertainty (Mazur, 2019). At its roots, hope is just as uncertain as dooming scenarios for our future. If we knew what was happening, hope, as well as overly alarmist scenarios, would be obsolete.
Considering the implications of climate change, what is the service of hope? Does it encourage us to take action, or can it potentially put us at risk of climate appeasement? In her article Home is Always Worth It, Mary Annaise Heglar discusses her difficulties in using the word “hope” in relation to climate change because it is frequently employed as a tactic of appeasement by both politicians and environmentalists. (Heglar, 2019). Therefore, I wonder if strictly hopeful convictions could stand in the way of climate action by mulling down the urgency to act, just as indifference and a sense of impending doom can paralyze us. Considering the uncertain nature of hope, can engagement rely on it? Or is climate action rooted in accepting the here and now and in deciding on sensible steps forward that are designed based on the acknowledgement of where we stand and what we know as well as what we do not know yet?
I struggle with defining hope and fear/doom as separate entities that offer a black-and-white approach to how we perceive the future. In the context of climate change and the future ahead of us, hope and doom instead seem to be on opposing ends of a spectrum of uncertainty interpretation. Climate communication moves on that spectrum. Mindfulness with and a conscious approach to language are required to provide communication that is not about conveying facts and knowledge alone. Without overselling hope or debilitating doom, climate communication can influence or even trigger emotional reactions, which shape how information is processed and interpreted, ultimately affecting engagement and the motivation to take action.
References
Heglar, M. A. (2019, September 12). Home is Always Worth It. Medium. https://medium.com/@maryheglar/home-is-always-worth-it-d2821634dcd9
Mazur, L. (2019, July 22). Despair about the Climate Crisis? Read This. Earth Island Journal. https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/despairing-about-climate-crisis/
Pihkala, P. (2020, April 3). Climate grief: How we mourn a changing planet. BBC Future. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200402-climate-grief-mourning-loss-due-to-climate-change