Professor Mark Hudson speaks about our grim future with climate change.
By Nick Johnston
Climate change is happening and it’s affecting not only the environment, but also people’s mental health.
Professor Mark Hudson, Ph.D. in Sociology, said Winnipeg should be preparing for future environmental loss during the From Climate Crisis to Better Future event hosted by X-Cues Café & Lounge on October 16, 2019.
Hudson is a professor at the University of Manitoba and is one of many taking part in a series of public environmental lectures provided by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Hudson said it is too late for any reversal effect on climate change.
Kassandra Hulls, a Business Administration student at Red River College, said she wonders if Winnipeg’s “freak weather”, which has been even more unpredictable than usual, is a result of climate change.
“It was hard to travel to school but now, the snow is gone and it’s perfectly fine,” said Hulls.
“We are already seeing negative weather effects from a changed climate,” said Hudson. “We can’t demand a world that’s not warmed, we missed the boat.”
Hudson said these seminars are also giving Winnipeggers a relaxed social setting for climate discussion and said he believes it is cathartic for those who attend.
“It’s always going to involve loss and we see all sorts of signs of this happening to people, manifesting into anxiety, depression and people not wanting kids because of climate change,” said Hudson.
Most of the people at Hudson’s talk were younger. Activist Stefanie Infantino, 25, attended Hudson’s lecture. She also participated in the climate strike on Sep. 17, 2019.
“It makes me sad seeing all the trees that have fallen since the storm last Friday,” said Infantino. “It makes me think of my own children that I will eventually have.”
Hudson said part of “imagining a better future” is asking difficult questions: “What are we facing losing? What can’t we demand anymore?”
For more information about these events, visit https://www.policyalternatives.ca.
