Economy got you down?  Apparently there's a growing movement of "eco-psychology" gaining momentum.  It's long been known that getting outdoors can be good for you, but  one particularly promising project in the UK is demonstrating marked improvements for patients suffering from depression as they interact with outdoor conservation activities.  The results are highly encouraging.  Read the article, then go outside.

Also on the subject of psychology, Prof. David Uzzell of University of Surrey gives some pointers on how to approach (or not approach) the subject of climate change with people.  He recommends:

"...psychologists now need to work with other disciplines, such as engineering, sociology etc. We need to have a much better understanding of the conditions which lead to unsustainable behaviour. It's no good the government saying to us that for journeys less than a mile you should walk or use public transport because when you are trying to juggle demands, such as your job and children within limited time, you are probably going to take your car. We need to change the conditions rather than attack individual behaviours."

Indeed.  The rest is equally insightful.

Now of course, climate change is but one global issue that really needs to be dealt with.  Energy is another, and Sarah van Gelder shares with us some tactics for building piece of mind and resiliency in an every changing world.  Good recommendations for building personal capacity, community, and the ability to deal with challenging circumstances. 

On a totally unrelated note, if you are having a slump of a day and want a reason to celebrate, last year solar cell production jumped to an all time record.  Accordinging to J. Matthew Roney of Earth Policy Institute:

"Solar photovoltaic (PV) cell manufacturers produced a record 10,700 megawatts of PV cells globally in 2009—an impressive 51-percent increase from the year before. While growth in 2009 slowed from the remarkable 89-percent expansion in 2008, it continued the rapid rise of an industry that first reached 1,000 megawatts of production in 2004. By the end of 2009, nearly 23,000 megawatts of PV had been installed worldwide, enough to power 4.6 million U.S. homes. Solar PV, the world’s fastest-growing power technology, now generates electricity in more than 100 countries."