Climate Media as Ecological Grief Work
At the time of writing, the world has fallen into disarray. The globe on lockdown and quarantine to prevent the spread of a virus we don’t know how else to combat. As a media creative studying a topic such as Ecological grief, it feels like a cruel sense of irony. To be studying media delving into discussing climate change and its repercussions only to see the impact it can wreak on the world, only in the form of a virus. In most regards I would consider myself on the luckier side, I live at home with my family so I have never had a fear of paying rent. Thus when my job inevitably shut down in response to the pandemic, I was upset, but not scared of my immediate future is filled with uncertainty.
It reminded me of a time last year when I traveled to Sydney for an internship. My aunt lived on the outskirts of Sydney in thick bushland. My aunt had told me of times she had dealt with bushfires close to her home before but on one of those days, I had to leave for my job with a small suitcase and stay the night in the city as the bushfire threat had become too severe in my aunt’s suburb that it was unlikely I would even be able to return home. Thankfully the scare passed and my aunt and her home were safe, yet the stress of waiting for news made me sick to my stomach at that time and the lack of response from our government was seething.
Photo from my instagram story when I was leaving my aunts house
Photo on same day on the way to work on the Harbour Bridge
It seems we are yet again in one of those times. You can’t turn on the news without learning more about the state of the world in regards to the virus. This is natural of course, it’s the most pressing topic and something people need to be aware of. However, something that people do bring up occasionally is also the repercussions of quarantine in regards to the climate. How air quality has improved, skies are clearing in India as well as waters in the Venice canals. This is all due to the drastically reduced emissions across the globe in response to the pandemic.
In a blind vacuum, of course, this sounds great, but it should not have to come to the point of a global pandemic for this to make a change. Many have also as a result raised the question of how the world will react once the pandemic is over and wonder if things for the environment will just return to the same point. While I would love to be optimistic, I highly doubt a strong change will come directly after this. It is frustrating that as a media student, there isn’t much I can do in regards to going out and filming. This course itself originally had a strong emphasis on practical work and that is something I wanted to prioritize this year. I wanted to spend the year making content that can fill a resume and really develop the voice I want to have as a content creator. The fact we are all now so limited to what we have at home and feels both depressive and infuriating. In a world that has come so far with technology and science, it feels like governments should have been better prepared to assist those not as well left off. While I am capable of making it through this quarantine, I know plenty of people that are not and it scares me for what their futures could hold.
There is one thing however that this quarantine has shown me that is inspiring. The persistence of media creators in this time. Watching the content that others have made in this time with their limited resources to provide content that is enjoyable to others to help people get by in this unpredictable time.
I want to try and create content in this time that can be both informative, but enjoyable. In a time where everyone is stressed out and afraid, people should be educated, but able to relax and be able to cope in the situation. I myself feel so worn down and unmotivated by the state of the world and like most people, feel as though the world has staggered to a halt with no way of moving forward. It’s why seeing content that inspires that hope to keep going, making do with what we have and using the time to find ways to cope is so important to me. And I don’t mean that in an over the top ‘we will get through this together’ message. I want my voice at this time to say that where we are right now isn’t great, but that’s ok. That this won’t last forever and we should look forward to the differences we can make when this pandemic finally ends. Living in the now is what should matter and creating media that can reflect that at least at this time is what I want to do.
References
– Monks, P., 2020. Coronavirus: Lockdown’s Effect On Air Pollution Provides Rare Glimpse Of Low-Carbon Future. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-lockdowns-effect-on-air-pollution-provides-rare-glimpse-of-low-carbon-future-134685
– Nolke, J., 2020. Explaining The Pandemic To My Past Self. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms7capx4Cb8