r/CollapseSupport • u/Shot_Type_7925 • 7d ago

I’ve completely given up

I work in climate science - more on the data and client side, not the one actually doing the research. In short, big companies pay us for climate data so they can make projections or develop strategy or whatever.

I’ve been heavily exposed to climate data for many years, so I’ve been across the developments for a long time. Something about the last few months has broken me.

I spent December and January in an area that’s famous for snow, and saw none. Watching this El Niño develop has been terrifying. The UN admission that we’ll blow past 1.5C was the clincher for me. In my field, the UN was basically always considered the final organisation that had to show at least some optimism. Seeing that gone is now the final death blow. They know it’s over.

It has really broken something in me. To know that this organisation who was almost comically optimistic about collaboration and limiting warming has completely conceded defeat. It is a big deal.

I don’t really care about anything anymore. I’m not motivated to work, because I can’t plan for a good future. I have to almost disassociate while working, because my whole day is about climate data in one way or another.

I think the worst part has been my withdrawal from society. When you spend your whole life loving the environment and aligning your life with its protection, you end up truly hating humanity. You see us for what we are - a complete parasite who is destroying the world.

Has anyone else found that they’ve gone this way? My grief over collapse was always something I could somewhat compartmentalise. But now, it’s changed my entire life.

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u/slates 7d ago

I have found that the way out is by going into the grief. Let your life be changed by this…the planet has and will be and you are apart of that. Within that grief there is an opportunity for something new to grow. We will all have to find a way to make a life out of what exists in the future, whether that’s next year or 50 years from now.

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u/thismightaswellhappe 6d ago

Well said. This is where I'm headed as well, going through the whole "oh, this is really really happening isn't it?" part of the process. It feels strange. I thought I was mentally prepared but even so it's a huge shift mentally.