/solastalgia. 2019

>Solastalgia (/ˌsɒləˈstældʒə/) is a neologism coined by Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2003 to describe a form of mental or existential distress caused by environmental change. The word stems from the latin sōlācium, meaning comfort,

and -algia, meaning pain. In 2015, solastalgia was included as a contributing concept in the impact of Climate Change on Human Health and Wellbeing. Although this state is most pertinent to those directly affected by climate change, communities that are displaced due to drought, mining or (un)natural disasters, those facing relocation, the phenomenon has been observed for example, in scientists studying the bleaching of the coral reefs, or doctors on frontlines of the resistace. I believe that on a different scale (one where the effects of the crisis have not yet been fully manifested, in a place of relative privilige), this is the feeling that forces most of us to act. Solastalgia is the measure of human distress in response to worldwide ecosystem distress syndromes. It shows that our removal from nature might not be as severe, if we are feeling the pain we ourselves have inflicted on the Earth.