Game Over - Really? Is the Era of "Deep Adaptation" Upon Us?

A report so grim it has caused readers to seek therapy and yet it has now gone viral.

The report discusses how we should adapt to climate catastrophe but with a difference.

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to provide readers with an opportunity to reassess their work and life in the face of an inevitable nearterm social collapse due to climate change. 

The approach of the paper is to analyse recent studies on climate change and its implications for our ecosystems, economies and societies, as provided by academic journals and publications direct from research institutes. 

That synthesis leads to a conclusion there will be a near-term collapse in society with serious ramifications for the lives of readers. The paper reviews some of the reasons why collapse-denial may exist, in particular, in the professions of sustainability research and practice, therefore leading to these arguments having been absent from these fields until now.

Bendell begins with the proposition, which is by no means novel, that we've already lost the ability to avert "near term climate collapse" and have embraced a new type of denialism, "collapse-denial."

Before reading Bendell's paper you might want to watch his introductory remarks.



BBC linked to Bendell's report in an article on how to spot and what to do about "eco-anxiety."  I think many of us have some measure of anxiety over climate change impacts that have now become part of our ordinary existence. Climate scientists certainly wrestle with this sort of anxiety. The article also links to a report in Psychology Today, "Coming to terms with ecoanxiety."

Bendell argues we're doing ourselves a disservice by averting our gaze from what is actually occurring here and now.

I won't go on any further. If you don't want to know you will have already left and if you do want to lift the carpet and see what's underneath you'll do far better to read Bendell's paper and the BBC and Psychology Today articles for yourself.

Vimeo, meanwhile, offers a video on how to reduce eco-anxiety.


How to Reduce Your Eco-Anxiety from Helen Edwards on Vimeo.