Suicides indicate wave of ‘doomerism’ over escalating climate crisis

While alarm over wildfires, droughts, flooding and societal unrest is on the rise, not many of us talk about climate angst

• This article contains a description of a suicide

It was a stunning, grisly act. A man, a climate activist and Buddhist, had set himself on fire on the steps of the US supreme court. He sat upright and didn't immediately scream despite the agony. Police officers desperately plunged nearby orange traffic cones into the court's marbled fountain and hurled water at him. It wasn't enough to save him.

The death of Wynn Bruce, a 50-year-old photographer who lived in Boulder, Colorado, was a shock to those who knew him. It was so upsetting," said April Lyons, a psychotherapist who knew Bruce from a therapeutic dance class they both took. He was a solid person, a compassionate, kind person. We had no idea he'd do this."