"When he was a child, Qerewaqa, now 27, would hear the flowing river as he slept, and during the day, he would run through forest paths, collecting guavas and mandarins before diving into creeks to catch prawns. Today, climate breakdown has made Nuku, the village he grew up in, a shadow of itself. The trees from my childhood are no longer here, and the fruiting seasons are also off now, he says."
"In 2020, the category five Cyclone Yasa hit Fiji, causing major damage and four deaths. It also displaced tens of thousands of citizens and destroyed 800 homes. Qerewaqa still remembers the noise, smell, and adrenaline he felt during the cyclone, worried his roof could blow off or his walls might collapse, and listening for neighbours who could be calling for help."
"The Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht coined the term ecoanxiety to describe the chronic fear of environmental doom. A recent study found nearly four in five children aged under 12 in the UK experience ecoanxiety, fearful of the state of the climate in the future. However, the term does not fully encapsulate the feelings of young people who endure natural disasters on the frontlines of climate breakdown."
Climate breakdown has transformed Nuku village in Fiji, with trees gone and fruiting seasons disrupted, reducing traditional food gathering and creek activities. In 2020 Cyclone Yasa, a category five storm, caused major damage, four deaths, displaced tens of thousands and destroyed 800 homes, leaving survivors with traumatic sensory memories of noise, smell and adrenaline. The concept of ecoanxiety captures chronic fear of environmental doom and is prevalent among children, but frontline youth experience layered responses that include loss of land, identity and ancestral knowledge alongside fear for future generations. Youth-led community movements provide resilience and hope.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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