“For some time I’ve been intermittently crippled with anxiety,” singer/songwriter Missy Higgins began an impassioned plea to her loyal Facebook fans on Wednesday afternoon.
“[Anxiety] about the notion of bringing kids into a world that seems more volatile and more uncertain than ever,” the 33-year-old, who became mother to Samuel Arrow last January, continued.
“Are there any other parents out there that have this anxiety that I have about the unknown, potentially catastrophic future that may be in store for our kids?
“I honestly don’t know what to do with these feelings.”
She’s talking about global warming, or, as Missy puts it, “the irreversible things” we’ve collectively done to our planet.
Having attended a humanitarian event on Tuesday, the Melburnian pop-rock musician says she's struggling to grapple with the intense fear little 'Sammy' might be stripped of his right to a full, happy life.
"I was told last night that my child's generation will probably not reach retirement age. It took everything I had to squash that thought down for the duration of the evening so that I didn't run home in tears."
Fully aware the facts might make her 220,000-strong following "horribly uncomfortable", the Scar singer urged readers to think of the bigger picture -- their children's future.
"According to the smartest people IN THE WORLD, we are hurtling towards terrifyingly unknown territory as far as environmental disaster goes, that any day now we will reach a tipping point like we could never imagine in our worst nightmares," she wrote.
"This is dark and horribly uncomfortable stuff (not to mention sickeningly guilt-inducing as far as parenthood goes) to think about, I know. But it's actually f-cking happening."
"So surely it's important not to shy away from it if we are to truly try to do something about it? If it's not too late? I can't be the only person out there losing sleep over this. Please speak up if you are too!"
The response from parents was swift, hundreds expressing their dismay at the current state of environmental affairs.
Some, like Julie, replied: "This is a big part of why I don't want children."
Although she wanted kids in her early twenties, the decision became much more complex when Julie grew older, she explained.
"As I got older I felt the confusion and uncertainty creep in," Julie commented, adding: "worrying about what my children would have to deal with/go through is almost too much. I just don't think I could do it. It's a painful decision."
For others, the decision to have children is imperative to solving climate change. They say to solve inaction, we need to birth environmental leaders.
"I had my son, and he is now my glimmering hope for the future," Demi commented amongst many others.
"The potential of him being raised as a (if not THE) human who will wake up the rest of the community, who will have a positive enough impact to tip the balance of power back on the side of the good."
After feeling relief that her fans felt the same way she is, Missy asked the one question we all want answered: "The next step is, what the hell can we do about it?"
What do you think needs to be done to solve global warming?
You can read Missy Higgin's full post here.