Understanding Environmental Amnesia in Society

Environmental Generational Amnesia: Forgetting What Nature Once Was

Imagine a child growing up in a world where the skies are always tinged with a faint haze, where the rivers they play by are murky, and where the symphony of birdsong is reduced to the occasional call of an urban-dwelling species. For them, this is normal. This is nature. They have no memory of a time when the skies were clearer, the rivers cleaner, and the biodiversity richer. This is what psychologist Peter Kahn terms Environmental Generational Amnesia (EGA)—a phenomenon where each generation perceives the degraded environment they inherit as the baseline for what is ‘natural’.

The Shifting Baseline Syndrome

EGA is closely linked to the concept of shifting baseline syndrome, where changes occur so gradually that people fail to notice the extent of environmental decline. Over generations, collective memory erodes, and what was once an alarming loss becomes accepted as the status quo. It’s a slow, creeping amnesia that insidiously lowers our expectations of what a healthy environment should look like.

We see this in urbanised areas, where children grow up associating ‘green space’ with neatly mowed lawns and a few scattered trees, rather than thriving ecosystems teeming with life. We see it in our oceans, where the absence of once-common species goes unnoticed by younger divers and fishers. We see it in air quality, where smoggy cityscapes become normalised, and only the oldest generations recall a time when the horizon wasn’t blurred by pollution.

Disconnection from Nature

EGA is reinforced by our growing disconnection from nature. As societies become more urbanised and digitalised, direct experiences with wild spaces diminish. A child who rarely sets foot in a forest will not recognise the slow disappearance of native flora. A teenager who has never seen a healthy reef will not mourn its bleaching. Without these experiences, we lose not just knowledge, but a sense of care and urgency.

The Urgency of Remembering

If each generation forgets what nature was, how do we fight for its restoration? The key lies in active remembering. Education, storytelling, and direct experience with nature are vital. Elders and Indigenous communities hold invaluable knowledge of landscapes before industrialisation, and their voices must be amplified. Schools must prioritise outdoor learning, allowing children to build relationships with the land. Conservation efforts must be framed not just as ecological necessities, but as acts of cultural memory preservation.

We are at a pivotal moment. The longer we allow EGA to shape our perceptions, the harder it will be to reclaim a thriving environment. But if we act now—by documenting, teaching, and immersing ourselves in nature—we can shift the baseline forward, rather than letting it slide further into degradation.

The question is: will we choose to remember, or will we allow ourselves to forget?