Adapting to a Warmer World

Climate change is no longer a looming threat, say scientists.  It's already a reality that's affecting people both economically and emotionally.  In California, extended droughts parch fields, leading to a sharp rise in food prices.  Along the Gulf Coast, tropical storms batter homes and businesses, and gut the local tourism industry. Last Halloween, the small Arctic town of Arviat, in Canada, canceled trick-or-treating — a safety measure, as the town was overrun by polar bears forced inland by diminishing sea ice.

Scientists agree that as the atmosphere continues to warm, extreme weather will happen more frequently and become more severe.  And the planet's citizens will pay the price.

Now a group of mental health professionals has come together to develop policies and programs to help individuals and communities prepare for the inevitable psychosocial aspects of that threat.  The International Transformational Resilience Coalition (ITRC) launched in 2014 to address the detrimental impacts of climate disruption on people's well-being.

The group has about 180 members and counting, says ITRC Director Bob Doppelt, a counseling psychologist and environmental land management expert who also directs the Resource Innovation Group, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Willamette University in Oregon.

Using the term "transformational" in the coalition's title was strategic, Doppelt says.  After all, climate change is dramatically altering the planet right beneath our feet.

"Normally we think about resilience as bouncing back to pre-crisis conditions, but that's never going to happen with climate change," he says.  "We have to help people adopt new ways of seeing the world, new ways of thinking about their livelihoods and new ways of viewing themselves."

Read more at Adapting to a Warmer World