– ‘I already have five scientist friends with severe, emergent health challenges’
NASA climate scientist Kimberly Miner of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory & University of Maine: “I am in my mid-thirties, working at NASA as a scientist, and I already have five scientist friends with severe, emergent health challenges. They are all affected by overwork, exhaustion and extreme stress.”
“The best treatment for climate grief, he says, is knowing you’ve made a contribution to reducing emissions or building resilience.”
Miner advocates political activism on climate: “It is now time for action. We must act for future generations of all species and to honor the people who came before.I support a platform of direct action, outreach to political bodies, and elevating repressed voices. Now is the time to listen to the Earth, to truly see and understand its changes.” Here she is talking to children about climate.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02619-0
By Kimberley R. Miner
Last September, before the rains came, my field team learnt that it was probably too late for half the blue oaks affected by California’s drought in the region in which we were working. Because of years of ongoing drought, many of the trees would not recover from the long-term water loss and would die. The next morning, I sat outside our science team meeting and cried.
A friend sat with me and explained that she had just recovered from an episode of extreme climate grief brought about by studying rapidly changing terrestrial ecosystems. She had started taking weekends off (many of us work seven days a week) and encouraged me to do so, as well. After we talked, I walked around the parking area for a while, listening to the birds and watching the midday light filter through the diverse trees in downtown Santa Barbara. I breathed the ocean air and grounded myself in the present, where the air was cool and the birds were singing.
New article out yesterdayhttps://t.co/3GuwGXJG9h— Dr. Kimberley R. Miner (@DrKimberley) August 18, 2023
Soon after that, I started taking weekends off to kayak near my home in Southern California and hike on the trails above Pasadena, and built a small bird garden on the porch of my apartment. I also started talking frankly to my colleagues about the emotional turmoil that is often sparked by working as a climate scientist today, and many others had similar stories. I am in my mid-thirties, working at NASA as a scientist, and I already have five scientist friends with severe, emergent health challenges. They are all affected by overwork, exhaustion and extreme stress. The only other thing they all have in common is that they study climate change.
Climate scientists have advocated for recognition of the destabilization of Earth’s ecosystems for four decades. Even within my lifetime, the climate system has changed noticeably, with hotter summers, longer dry periods and more frequent and severe storms. Some climate scientists have left the field, some have died and some have retired, but even more are just starting their careers. Early-career climate scientists across a range of fields are faced with comprehensive, esoteric challenges as ecosystems begin to cross tipping points. Knowing how to look at these huge changes and still be able to relax at the end of the day can be an ongoing problem.
Even for the most experienced and well-trained field scientists, changing dynamics can introduce sudden risks to health and safety. Whether in the shape of increased glacier flow rates, rainstorms that become atmospheric rivers, or abrupt permafrost thawing that disrupts sections of highway, these unforeseen risks are emerging increasingly. Scientists with decades of experience in one field location might find themselves confronted with a new atmospheric or hydrologic circulation pattern, an unseasonal storm or freeze, or literally shaky ground. Although we have a responsibility to track how certain sites are changing in a climate that’s getting hotter and more extreme, that can put scientists at considerable risk.
Recently, I spoke to Dave Schimel, one of the scientists who led the work for which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was awarded a Nobel prize in 2007, about how we can address climate grief. After decades of working to convince the public that climate change is real, he said that we need to work on solutions. He thinks that the current generation of climate scientists needs to move on from education and advocacy to providing solutions for mitigation, adaptation and resilience. The best treatment for climate grief, he says, is knowing you’ve made a contribution to reducing emissions or building resilience.
…
A life-sized statue of @DrKimberley Miner now stands at the @smithsonian, along with more than 120 IF/THEN® #WomenInSTEM Ambassadors. For #WomensHistoryMonth, we spoke with Kimberley about inspiring future #STEM leaders and what she’s working on at NASA: https://t.co/EVcjxtRYVc pic.twitter.com/n2o0n8boq6— Switzer Foundation (@switzernetwork) March 17, 2022
2020 presentation: Impacts of Permafrost Degradation with Dr. Kimberly R. Miner
Being sassy at the @dallasarboretum! Come see our statues until 4pm today! @IfThenSheCan pic.twitter.com/zXeIaYWgdY— Dr. Kimberley R. Miner (@DrKimberley) October 22, 2022
Getting the band back together again!
This fall, #IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit is back in Dallas You can find my @IfThenSheCan statue at the @dallasarboretum this Sept 9th – Dec 31st! https://t.co/Laqv8W1JzB pic.twitter.com/m2iVGydfNH— Dr. Kimberley R. Miner (@DrKimberley) September 6, 2022
The @ifthenshecan Ambassadors are going to San Diego Comic-Con!
Join me @beatascienceart @clairemeaders @thesteamcollab and @PolycrystalhD for our panel STEAM Superstars at 5pm pacific on Saturday, November 27th! We’ll be talking about our #science and #fandom! Join us! pic.twitter.com/jrG5xPELKG— Dr. Kimberley R. Miner (@DrKimberley) November 16, 2021
Two great surprises came in the mail today!@NatGeo sent me a copy of the Guinness World Records book that our team is in (!) and @IfThenSheCan sent my statue.
So incredible to be part of an international STEM community Thanks for the support as we tackle the #climatecrisis pic.twitter.com/nVDGsfzbMG— Dr. Kimberley R. Miner (@DrKimberley) November 3, 2021
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Maybe she should retire on medical disability or something. She really is not suited to her job.
It’s more likely that her job really does not need to be done.
I’m guessing: If Musk was running her outfit she likely would be in the 80% of Twits he fired.
Please! No encouragement to claim disability, especially for a self-induced condition.
The second paragraph below the article’s lead-in photo of Kimberley R. Miner currently reads:
“The best treatment for climate grief, he says, is knowing you’ve made a contribution to reducing emissions or building resilience.”
Boy, I’m confused . . . but I guess climate grief can can have unexpected consequences . . . you know, raging hormones and all that.
The Smithsonian may want to do a double check on that life-sized statue of Kimberley Miner, although fair warning was given by the name of the donor organization: IfThenSheCan
Emissions haven’t been reduced. Imagine working a 40 year career where your belief system is based entirely on lies. Go listen to Johnny Cash sing “Hurt”, his final masterpiece. It WILL give you better a insight on grief.
https://youtu.be/8AHCfZTRGiI?si=wHjQjDe6_8U4KTRU
Definitely a female thing, Valium was called “Mothers Little Helper” back in
the 60’s & 70’s for a reason. #1 prescribed drug in the country. Those users
would mix it with some alcohol and end up in a rehab facility with major issues.
Primary care Docs would pass it out just to get those gals out of the office
instead of dealing with the real issues…
Australian Crawl had a slightly different definition in “The Boys Light Up”
Just proves that you can be intelligent/educated but have zero common sense – to believe that a minuscule amount of CO2 somehow magically controls the climate and will destroy the planet is the height of absurdity
“Educated beyond their intellectual means”.
George Jonas
Waaa… Waaaahhh!!!! WAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Where is the Tropospheric “Hot Spot” woman!
Where is the Positive Feedback Loop weepy woman……
There was little to no summer ice in the arctic for long periods of time.
LINK
The Permafrost was down to around the 45 degrees N in Europe and America, yet no methane bomb or disease bomb events is noted.
You weep because you are a weak-minded people who lack the rational skills to understand what is really going on around you as you succumbed to the stupid propaganda drumbeat.
Personally, I do not see being consumed by what you are doing as a bad thing. Nor do I see being being moved by avoidable bad or tragic events as a bad thing. What I do see as a bad thing for any professional, especially a scientist, is to lose objectivity when generating and evaluating evidence.
Agree to a point, except they are producing the exact content required of them
So I don’t think they are losing focus. They are focused.
Can you imagine her in the control room in charge during Apollo 13?
Never see those astronauts again.
Different job, different organization, different time. But yeah.
If she and Kalmus had a baby would it look like Al Gore?
Just a (semi)pretty face pushed out front to make NASA look sexy. Calls herself a “climate scientist,” but never divulges her actual (or lack of) science education. Her masters degree is in public policy, not science. Her personal webpage is full of selfies, with text that says I, I, I, I, I, I … Her “research” consists of a bunch world adventures on the public’s dime (Everest, Antarctica, etc.). Real research is tedious and not so exciting and glamorous, nor so full of supposedly groundbreaking, original findings.
Climate anxiety? The word that comes to mind is snowflake.
If a bunch of snowflakes are packed together, do you get ice, or just something that is frigid?
>> Climate scientists have advocated for recognition of the destabilization of Earth’s ecosystems for four decades.
We know for sure that CMIP5 models got the clouds wrong and it matter on a global scale as the calculated CO2 sensitivity was 25% wrong, almost say. For local effects these models are never better. And older models are worse than CMIP5. So what she really is saying here (proudly) is that they did not know what they were doing and likely overstated their knowledge. Also, there seems to be some unhealthy peer pressure at that department to look into, someone should ask NASA human resources, what is going on! I don’t think these people are actually allowed to work beyond their contract, it might actually be illegal!
So many words to quote that are not organized the way a scientist would organize them… I feel like I must be being lured into a trap.
Read to the bottom, now came back here. Her words on climate-induced stress were poorly formed, so maybe she’s earned some criticism, but I see plenty “ism” for her to focus on should she bother reading.
She doesn’t just claim to be suffering from stress, she claims she’s in grief. And in her own words, it is extreme grief.
It is commonly recognized that people suffering extreme grief don’t think/reason logically.
(ref: https://www.hcf.com.au/health-agenda/body-mind/mental-health/moving-through-grief )
Case in point.
I know correlation does not mean causation, but it sure looks like the belief in CO2-induced global warming causes depression.
Is anyone here, depressed over climate change?
I can’t stand this, NASA needs to do this woman a favor and fire her. Yes I’m sorry to bring myself into this but with this amount of angst on full display it has to be all about me.
Delusional doesn’t begin to describe her. She’s either stupid or fundamentally evil
You have to wonder what branch of science these so-called climate “scientists” are qualified in. It’s certainly not physics, otherwise they would know it is all a giant scam.
These people are not scientists! If they were they would engage their brains and do some thinking. The US leads a western sphere that makes up just over 12% of the world’s population, no matter what this segment does, it will make no difference to the path of the global climate unless the Asian economies do the same. Given that India and China are run by governments trying to improve the lives of their peoples through economic development and have no intention of circumscribing that effort to pander to fear mongering western scientists, then the whole thing is nonsensical.
Every time I get climate anxiety, I go outside and look around where everything seems to be perfectly normal.
No shit, you describe talking to “your colleagues” . That is not proof of correlation, it’s called selection bias.
Anyway, I’m glad to see that your strategy of spouting BS in order to frighten everyone into following your politics is backfiring and making you all ill. Why don’t you all take a few years off work, give us all a break !
One in five young women in the UK have contacted our national health service with mental health issues. Far more than young men.
Young women are also far more likely to be woke. Young men are increasingly becoming more conservative, more right wing, rejecting wokeness
So just look at her, a sad, mentally ill young woman suffering hysterical delusion.
She needs sedatives, and a long rest from her job in an asylum.
Unfortunately, in the US, the suicide rate of young men is increasing.
‘Health Challenge’. An emergent phenomenon in climate models.
If this is the best NASA can offer then it explains why the Indians have a lander on the Moon’s south pole and NASA has not.
The beginning of the last paragraph of the Nature article :
She, along with her field team and colleagues, needs to learn the difference between (justified) “fears” and (irrational) “phobias”.
She would “probably” also benefit mentally after meditating on the BSG school of theology :
“All this has happened before. All this will happen again.”
Correction:
No Dave Schimel “The best treatment for climate grief . . . is
knowing you’ve made a contribution to reducing emissions or building resiliencerealizing there is no climate crisis.”Very similar to the blather by some woman in the New Scientist a lot of years ago. That was when I cancelled the subscription.
Kimberly and others of similar sentiment should stop referring to themselves as scientists, or else we will need to come up with a new term to describe those who dedicate their lives to the objective study of nature and the finding of real truths about the laws of the universe, while suppressing their own emotional biases and misperceptions.