Why Do We Perform Remembrance Rituals to Help With Our Grief?

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Grief rituals for the environment are becoming increasingly common. Why do we perform grief rituals generally? Clair White is a professor at California State University Northridge, who studies grief and death rituals. She says that performing rituals alleviates anxiety. It helps us to feel like we are regaining a sense of control in the face of threat.

Last week, a scientific assessment found wildlife populations have plunged by an average of 69% in just under 50 years. Such rapid and significant losses are leaving many of us with a deep sense of grief and anxiety. To make sense of these emotions and channel them into action, people are increasingly performing rituals and commemorative acts for the natural world. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Prof Claire White about the power of rituals in bringing us together to process grief, and hears from author Andri Magnason about why he wrote a eulogy for Okjökull, the first Icelandic glacier officially lost to the climate crisis. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod