Climate scientists feel weight of world on their shoulders

Extract from ABC News

Every day, these scientists face evidence of climate change. They explain how they cope with the emotional burden of what they know.

By Gretchen Miller for Earshot

Scientist Charlie Veron says he was one of the first people to photograph bleached coral. (Tristan Bayer)

I am someone who can actually do something about it. I am someone who is listened to and I have made a difference. And so I have to keep on doing that. It's not as if I can say, "to hell with it", and go and do some gardening.

Sarah Perkins Kirkpatrick is sometimes hesitant to communicate the confronting findings of her research. (Supplied: Sarah Perkins)

We just want to make sure we're absolutely 100 per cent sure on the numbers that we've got. We don't just say: "Let's just look at a few maps and here are some pretty lines in a plot."

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg says he's coming across the scars of climate change more and more. (Supplied: Ove Hoegh-Guldberg)

I've gone from that innocence, looking over the edge of the Australian continent and wondering "wow" ... to now a deep sense of worry, that you have to do something, we have to do something. We can't let this magic disappear.

Sara Arthur tries to do the right thing by the environment, but says sharing what she knows is hard. (Supplied: Sara Arthur)

The moment — when I realised we were putting too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which was inevitably going to go into the oceans and dissolve the coral reefs — was demoralising.

Hear Gretchen Miller's full story about the grief of climate science on Earshot, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, ABC Radio or your favourite podcasting app.