I have been aware of the onset of Global Warming, and concerned about its consequences, since at least 1995.
My first experience of "climate despair" that I remember occurred in 2008 when we had 70 degree weather here in central Minnesota in November.
I was doing a "Medicine Walk" in a Scientific and Natural Area that protects 200 year old sugar maple trees, when the full import of catastrophic climate change came crashing down upon me. I of course had no way of knowing whether or not the temperature that day was due to simple weather variability or if it was somehow linked to the destabilization of the jet stream due to the effects of global warming, or whatever. But the warmth that late in the year was just so aberrant that I was brought to a place where I grokked, clearly "saw", deeply felt the consequences, and sensed the "imminentcy" of a ruined planet.
Catching up on my reading on this site on threads like Drought, Heatwaves, Sea Level Rise, I had to agree with jedrider's comment that it seems that, "CC is now going to start it's full court press..."
I found myself looking at the U'S Drought Monitor map once more, and then looking at these air temperature anomaly maps put me over the edge:
Not that these sorts of heat waves have never happened before, but the image just so graphically depicts an overheated planet with cold pockets chaotically interspersed.
It's often said that monitoring climate change is like watching a slow moving train wreck, but at moment's like these it feels more like we're accelerating into a black hole.
The moment has passed and now I'm just reflecting upon "things". No doubt if the arctic sea ice melt were to take a dire turn this year, or if other factors worsen, I could be facing another moment.
Usually I'm in a "monitoring and concerned" mental and emotional state, as I imagine others of you are who post on this site. But I"m curious, I would like to hear your stories of the moments that you deeply felt for the earth and humanity as you pondered the effects of climate change.