Do you have eco-anxiety?

The seed was planted on a clear day; somewhere between my morning coffee and the first work call.

My newsfeed said subways in Manhattan had flooded. A woman hugged a Trader Joe's paper bag as she trudged through the knee-deep water.

Then, the seed sprouted. A landslide in North India. Homes swept away. Casualties.

It poked out of the mud of my thoughts when a friend in California reported wild fires now closer to their home. Everyone is safe. So far so good.

Giving the seed sunshine was a flood in Japan then one in our backwaters.

A series of events across the world with one common thread.

Spreading its silent roots, it made the words spill one day, 'Should we consider moving inland? Is our coastal city one giant wave away from disappearing?'

Soon after my better half scoffed at the idea, I spoke to a dear friend who is an authority in communication on urban planning and climate change.

Is my brain harbouring a weed? How do I uproot this notion that the news is watering every day? Also, what about that giant wave?

That's when she named the sapling in my mind - eco anxiety. The deluge of reporting on the adverse effect of climate change and lack of infrastructure planning is eroding the mental health of one too many. I was not alone.

She linked me to Gargi Bhavsar's article* titled 'Why climate education needs to include mental health'. A troubling account of how the idea of sudden climate devastation was coming in the way of the author's everyday life.

Bhavsar is 13 years old.

Climate impact is gradually, not dramatically, building. The giant wave is like the flying car.

But without the right research and education to help the regular reader make sense of what's going on on Earth, it's causing crippling anxiety. 

Because the sapling is thriving, I'm gravitating towards such research.

Ronita Bardhan, PhD ( she/her) is an architectural urban engineer. She recently wrote on how low income housing is setting India up to pay a literal and metaphoric heavy price on energy.

Poor ventilation leads to purchase of cooling devices -- notice any slum in Mumbai and you'll see the metallic swell of air conditioning between the blue tarp. This increases carbon footprint and eventually impacts the climate of a city.

That's where urban planning comes in.

Solution oriented conversations around climate change equate to making a garden out of thoughts on our environment. They are the rays of hope in the flood on anxiety created by the news.

For the sake on my child and her future understanding, not fear, on this topic, I hope to educate myself on such solutions.

Have you felt this way about the climate lately? Share away!

* https://assembly.malala.org/stories/why-climate-education-needs-to-include-mental-health?fbclid=IwAR0mvEUIVg716iIrpylWBfEHhBvlcDiBXCJdwgTQPFCmA0royHZIrxuNWpA