Will Halloween Be a Trick or Treat for Our Climate?
The scariest thing this upcoming spooky season? Climate change.
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I am not sure how and why October 31st was chosen to begin the international climate summit in Scotland. Was it because Halloween started there? I do know that Shakespeare’s play Macbeth was also set there and depicts the ruination from unbridled greed and desire for power. The opera adaptation of Macbeth just opened the Chicago Lyric Opera season. I also do not whether they picked Macbeth to fit so well with our current political times, or the witches’ predictions of our Western wildfires, or the climate anxiety of our children, but it does.
Given what the climate scientists are calling a climate emergency, it seems we need some innovative and creative responses. Perhaps one is the renovated arena now owned by Amazon, which opens on October 22. Its name is Climate Pledge Arena, so hopefully, directly or subliminally, it will evoke more climate concern. Then we will have more climate Halloween treats than tricks.
Do you have any thoughts on climate change? Send them to PTEditor@MMHGroup.com.
Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who has specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry. A prolific writer and speaker, he received the one-time designation of Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Assembly of the American Psychiatric Association in 2002. He is an advocate for mental health issues relate to climate instability, burnout, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism for a better world. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric TimesTM.
