How climate change affects your mental health | Britt Wray

翻译人员: psjmz mz 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

For all that's ever been said about climate change,

尽管人们一直在谈论气候变化，

we haven't heard nearly enough about the psychological impacts

但关于生活在日益变暖的世界里， 受到的心理影响

of living in a warming world.

我们讨论得还远远不够。

If you've heard the grim climate research

如果你听到过像我这样 的科学传播者

that science communicators like me weave into our books and documentaries,

在书和纪录片中描述 的严酷的气候研究，

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

你可能会感到阵阵恐惧， 绝望或是宿命论。

If you've been impacted by climate disaster,

如果你受到过气候灾难的影响，

these feelings can set in much deeper,

这些感觉会更加深刻，

leading to shock, trauma,

气候灾难导致休克，创伤，

strained relationships, substance abuse

紧张的关系，药物滥用

and the loss of personal identity and control.

以及个人身份和控制力的丧失。

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

至关重要的政治及科技活动 正在缓和我们的气候混乱，

but I'm here to evoke a feeling in you

但是我在这里是为了唤起你们的意识，

for why we also need our actions and policies

为什么我们也需要行动和政策，

to reflect an understanding of how our changing environments

以体现我们对不断变化的环境

threaten our mental, social and spiritual well-being.

如何威胁我们的精神、社会 和精神福祉的理解。

The anxiety, grief and depression of climate scientists and activists

多年来，气候科学家 和活动人士的焦虑、

have been reported on for years.

悲伤和沮丧屡见报端。

Trends we've seen after extreme weather events

我们发现，像飓风桑迪

like hurricane Sandy or Katrina

或卡特里娜等极端天气事件后，

for increased PTSD and suicidality.

PTSD和自杀倾向有增加的趋势。

And there are rich mental-health data from northern communities

我们有北部人群丰富的 心理健康数据，他们居住在

where warming is the fastest,

天气变暖速度最快的地方，

like the Inuit in Labrador,

如生活在拉布拉多的因纽特人们，

who face existential distress as they witness the ice,

他们正面临生存困境， 眼睁睁地看着

a big part of their identity,

最能代表他们身份的冰，

vanishing before their eyes.

在他们眼前消失。

Now if that weren't enough,

如果这还不足够，

the American Psychological Association

据美国心理学会发现，

says that our psychological responses to climate change,

我们对气候变化的心理反应，

like conflict avoidance, helplessness and resignation, are growing.

如逃避冲突、无助和顺从正在增长。

This means that our conscious and unconscious mental processes

这意味着我们有意识和 无意识的心理过程，

阻碍了我们寻找问题的原因，

are holding us back

from identifying the causes of the problem for what they are,

阻碍了我们寻找解决问题的方法，

working on solutions and fostering our own psychological resilience,

阻碍了我们培养自己的心理弹性。

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

但我们需要这些东西 才能承担我们造成的后果。

Lately, I've been studying a phenomenon

最近，我一直在研究一种现象，

that's just one example of the emotional hardships

这只是我们所面临的

that we're seeing.

情感困境的一个例子。

And it comes in the form of a question

它以一个问题的形式出现，

that a significant amount of people in my generation are struggling to answer.

这个问题我们这一代的 很多人都很难回答。

That being:

那就是：

Should I have a child in the age of climate change?

在气候翻天覆地变化的年代， 我应该生养一个孩子吗?

After all, any child born today

毕竟，如今出生的任何一个孩子

will have to live in a world where hurricanes, flooding, wildfires --

都必须生活在一个飓风、 洪水、山火——

what we used to call natural disasters --

即我们过去常说的自然灾害——

have become commonplace.

变得司空见惯的世界里。

The hottest 20 years on record occurred within the last 22.

有记录以来最热的20年 发生在过去22年中。

The UN expects that two-thirds of the global population

联合国预计，仅6年后，

may face water shortages only six years from now.

全球2/3的人口 可能面临水资源短缺。

The World Bank predicts that by 2050,

世界银行预测，到2050年，

there's going to be 140 million climate refugees

在撒哈拉以南非洲、拉丁美洲和南亚

in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia.

将有1.4亿气候难民。

And other estimates put that number at over one billion.

有其他机构预测 这个数字会超过10亿。

Mass migrations and resource scarcity

大规模移民和资源匮乏

increase the risk for violence, war and political instability.

增加了暴力、战争和 政治不稳定的风险。

The UN just reported that we are pushing up to a million species to extinction,

联合国前不久称，我们正在将 多达100万物种推向灭绝，

many within decades,

就在未来几十年内，

and our emissions are still increasing, even after the Paris Agreement.

即便签署了《巴黎协定》， 我们的排放量仍在增加。

Over the last year and a half,

在过去一年半的时间里，

I've been conducting workshops and interviews

我一直在举办研讨会，

采访了数百人，

with hundreds of people

about parenting in the climate crisis.

讨论如何在气候危机中为人父母。

And I can tell you

我可以告诉你们，

that people who are worried about having kids because of climate change

那些因气候变化 而犹豫要不要孩子的人，

并不是因为禁欲主义。

are not motivated by an ascetic pride.

They're nerve-racked.

他们只是因为神经紧张。

There's even a movement called BirthStrike,

甚至有一场名为“生育罢工”的运动，

whose members have declared they're not going to have kids

其参与者宣称，他们不会要孩子，

原因是我们面临生态危机，

because of the state of the ecological crisis

而政府在应对这种 生存威胁上不作为。

and inaction from governments to address this existential threat.

And yes, other generations have also faced their own apocalyptic dangers,

是的，我们的先辈们 也面临过末日危机，

but that is no reason to disregard the very real threat to our survival now.

但这并不意味着我们可以忽视 如今所面临的真正威胁。

Some feel that it's better to adopt children.

有些人认为收养孩子更好。

Or that it's unethical to have more than one,

或者生一个以上的孩子是不道德的，

especially three, four or more,

尤其是三个、四个或更多的时候，

because kids increase greenhouse gas emissions.

因为多生孩子会增加 温室气体的排放。

Now, it is a really unfortunate state of affairs

这是一种非常不幸的情况，

when people who want kids sacrifice their right to

想要孩子的人们得牺牲他们的权利，

because, somehow, they have been told that their lifestyle choices are to blame

因为，在某种程度上，别人觉得 他们的生活方式是错误的，

when the fault is far more systemic,

但其实这个错误是更加系统化的，

but let's just unpack the logic here.

我们详细展开来讲讲。

So an oft-cited study shows that, on average,

一项经常被引用的 研究表明，平均而言，

having one less child in an industrialized nation

在工业化国家少生一个孩子

can save about 59 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

每年可以减少排放 大约59吨二氧化碳。

While in comparison,

相比之下，

living car-free saves nearly 2.5 tons,

不开车可以节省将近2.5吨，

avoiding a transatlantic flight -- and this is just one --

避免跨大西洋飞行 ——只须减少一次——

saves about 1.5 tons,

可节省约1.5吨，

and eating a plant-based diet can save almost one ton per year.

吃素每年几乎可以节省1吨。

And consider that a Bangladeshi child

想想看，一个孟加拉国的孩子

only adds 56 metric tons of carbon to their parents' carbon legacy

一生中为他的父母增加

56吨的碳排放，

over their lifetime,

while an American child, in comparison, adds 9,441 to theirs.

而一个美国的孩子 则要增加9441吨。

So this is why some people argue

因此，这就是为什么有些人

that it's parents from nations with huge carbon footprints

认为那些碳足迹巨大国家的父母

who should think the hardest about how many kids they have.

最应该认真考虑他们要几个孩子。

But the decision to have a child and one's feelings about the future

但要不要孩子以及 一个人对未来的感受

是非常个人化的，

are deeply personal,

and wrapped up in all sorts of cultural norms,

与各种文化规范，

religious beliefs, socioeconomic status, education levels and more.

宗教信仰、社会经济地位、 教育水平等因素密切相关。

And so to some, this debate about kids in the climate crisis

因此，对有些人来说， 在气候危机中这场关于孩子的辩论

can seem like it came from another planet.

就像天方夜谭。

Many have more immediate threats to their survival to think about,

许多人面临着更直接的生存威胁，

like, how they're going to put food on the table,

比如，如何养活自己的孩子，

如果她是一个打3份工的单身母亲，

when they're a single mom working three jobs,

或者HIV检测呈阳性， 或者还身处移民队伍中。

or they're HIV positive or on the move in a migrant caravan.

Tragically, though, climate change is really great at intersectionality.

然而，可悲的是，气候变化 确实具有很强的交叉性。

It multiplies the stresses marginalized communities already face.

它增加了边缘化社区已经面临的压力。

A political scientist once said to me that a leading indicator

一位政治学家曾对我说，

气候变化开始从心理上 影响人们的一个主要指标，

that climate change is starting to hit home, psychologically,

would be an increase in the rate of informed women

就是受过教育的女性

deciding to not have children.

决定不生孩子的比例上升。

Interesting.

这听起来很有趣。

Is it hitting home with you, psychologically?

从心理上来说， 这是否对你产生了影响？

Are you perhaps someone with climate-linked pre-traumatic stress?

你也许患上了与气候相关的 创伤前应激综合症？

A climate psychiatrist coined that term,

一个气候精神病学家创造了这个术语，

and that's a profession now, by the way, shrinks for climate woes.

顺便说一下，这已经是一种职业了， 专治气候心理问题的心理医生。

They're getting work at a time when some high schoolers

他们什么时候开始介入呢， 就是当一些高中生

don't want to apply to university any longer,

不再申请大学的时候，

because they can't foresee a future for themselves.

因为他们对自己的未来没有信心。

And this brings me back to my main point.

这又回到了我的主要观点。

The growing concern about having kids in the climate crisis

越来越多的人担心在 气候危机中生孩子，

is an urgent indicator of how hard-pressed people are feeling.

这是人们感到压力有多大 的一个紧迫指标。

Right now, students around the world are screaming for change

现在，全世界的学生都在 用绝望的声音

in the piercing voice of despair.

尖叫着要求改变。

And the fact that we can see how we contribute to this problem

我们可以看到自己如何努力，

that makes us feel unsafe

来解决这个让我们不安的问题，

is crazy-making in itself.

这件事本身就会让我们疯狂。

Climate change is all-encompassing

气候变化是包罗万象的，

and so are the ways that it messes with our minds.

它扰乱我们思维的方式也是如此。

Many activists will tell you

许多积极分子会告诉你

消除悲伤的最好办法就是积极行动。

that the best antidote to grief is activism.

And some psychologists will tell you the answer can be found in therapy.

一些心理学家会告诉你 答案可以在治疗中找到。

Others believe the key is to imagine you're on your deathbed,

另一些人则认为， 关键是想象自己即将死去，

reflecting back on what's mattered the most in your life,

回想一下生命中最重要的事情，

so you can identify what you should do more of now,

这样你就能确定在剩下的时间里，

应该去做哪些事情。

with the time that you have left.

We need all these ideas, and more,

这些想法我们都需要，更重要的是，

to take care of our innermost selves

要关注内心深处的自我，

as the environments we've known become more punishing towards us.

因为我们所熟悉的环境 对我们越来越不利。

And whether you have children or not,

无论你有没有孩子，

we need to be honest about what is happening,

我们都需要诚实地 面对正在发生的事情，

and what we owe one another.

以及我们对彼此的亏欠。

We cannot afford to treat

我们不能把

the psychological impacts of climate change

气候变化的心理影响

as some afterthought,

看成是还未发生的事情，

because the other issues, of science, technology and the politics and economy,

因为科学、技术、政治 和经济等其他问题，

feel hard, while this somehow feels soft.

感觉很棘手， 而这个问题感觉可以缓一缓。

Mental health needs to be an integral part

心理健康需要成为

任何气候变化生存战略 的一个组成部分，

of any climate change survival strategy,

requiring funding, and ethics of equity and care,

需要资金、公平和关怀的伦理

and widespread awareness.

以及广泛的认知。

Because even if you're the most emotionally avoidant person on the planet,

因为即使你是这个星球上 最没有情绪波动的人，

there's no rug in the world that's big enough to sweep this up under.

你也不可能对这一切视而不见。

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）