– ‘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.
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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
Has Miss Miner ever stopped to consider there is another side of this story and maybe she is looking in the wrong places for answers? Won’t it be worthwhile to see what the opposition is saying to see if their analysis makes more sense? Sad that she is losing her health for a lie.
The best treatment for “Climate Grief” is to:
STOP IT!!!!!
Hey, Kimberly, didja notice the correlation between your kooky climate beliefs and your mental health? Try climate reality. It’s refreshing and relaxing. Don’t worry, be happy. That’s your mantra for a healthy mind.
Sounds like they sit around and talk about the things that may, might or could happen and just whip themselves into a frenzy. When was that authorized to be a pet project of NASA? Sounds like wasted tax dollars.
In my eyes anyone who goes into the field of climatology today does so in order to “save the world”. They are already convinced global warming is a problem and caused by man and no amount of evidence to the contrary will ever change their minds because that would mean they’d have to accept that (a) their noble cause was a futile gesture and (b) they’ve wasted their career.
It’s no wonder these people are suffering mentally… they’re batshit crazy.
This is similar to the motivations of young people entering journalism.
After Watergate the objective was to “bring down the Man” (government).
It has now morphed into “Defend the Narrative” – a.k.a. “Save Democracy” (at least OUR version of democracy).
This is what results from listening to your own BS for too long. After a while you start believing it.
In her video for children, his lazy-eyed lunatic starts out with the craziest lie to children that I have ever heard, outside of telling them they can change their sex if they want.
She claims that the victims of the Bubonic Plague were buried in permafrost, and that if we let the permafrost melt, the plague will be released to come back and kill us again.
This is child abuse. If any Plague victims actually were buried in permafrost (in an attempt to preserve the disease?), there is already enough Bubonic Plague bacteria floating around in rodent populations to cause another epidemic, if we are dumb enough to fall back into medieval hygienic practices.
P. S. Not a lazy eye actually. She seems to have some facial paralysis affecting her left eyelid. I’m guessing she is double vaxxed, double boosted, and bivalent boosted, leaving her with either a mild stroke or Epstein-Barr.
Of course many people were coerced into getting vaccinated, or were reluctantly duped into it, but her clear ambition is to be one of the dupers, so I’m guessing her motivation would have been to try to pressure others to take the radically experimental mRNA poison.
Tribal norms must be enforced. “You’re out of uniform soldier!”
I can’t help thinking (speaking as a wife and mother myself) that if Dr. Miner had a husband and children, she’d have more positive things in her life to focus on plus built-in emotional support. I noticed that she didn’t mention family in her weekend activities, so I assume she is single. How many women’s lives have been ruined by modern feminism?
They should probably try to teach them a little math.
These geniuses are the same ones that couldn’t figure out how to make a $20 O-ring seal on a $1.4 billion shuttle launch, so I can understand their “depression”.