There's no rush.

And, not to get too esoteric but... its not like you're going anywhere after you're dead. You're still in the world and of the world. As a human living in this moment, you have as much agency as anything has ever had over its environment. As an expert in environmental sciences, even more so.

I'm pouring my limited time alive into trying to help fix something that is broken beyond repair

This is fucking miserable on a global scale, but it isn't the end. No more than the catastrophes of war and plague and famine were the end going back millennia. In the same way that some British dorks fucking around doing geographic surveys in Saudi Arabia a century ago unlocked a thing they would never live long enough to comprehend, you're participating in a project you won't live to see the end of. But you're in it and what you're doing will echo through time in the same way that the actions of your predecessors did.

Leave now and all you're doing is surrendering agency to the survivors. To paraphrase Patton, don't die for your beliefs. Let the other dipshits die for theirs.

I stay around for the sake of spite, personally.

I love you and we can't lose to Henry Kissinger

We are not going anywhere. There are hard times ahead, and you can choose to be there to learn & educate our fellow people who will be in dire need, or cede that ground to the fascists.

The world will need good people.

I work in ecology, and yeah it's depressing. There's a really obvious solution to climate change but no one in leadership in the West is willing to say it and this will make your job feel pointless and it isn't. You can still make a difference in people's lives through other means. You're not going to fix climate change, but you can still get meaning out of the relationships you form and things you accomplish professionally. I work in a niche field of pollination ecology and my research more than likely will not "matter" but I've still setup urban public gardens, consulted with habitat enhancements for non-profits and local governments, and educated a ton of people through lecturing, mentoring, and teaching -and while that stuff isn't going to stop climate change it still matters because it matters to me and I think it's a good use of my time. And if that isn't enough remember that people love and care about you.

Turn that sentiment outwards for change rather than inwards.

Anytime my thoughts go down this route I think about how we’re all just sentient star dust, living in a tiny sliver of time in the history of the universe. Global climate collapse or not, our time here is minimal, so learn and enjoy what you can, and don’t fear the inevitable decay.

Some Brian Cox wisdom if you’re feeling down: https://youtube.com/shorts/KSgNly0bSug?si=89Uskg-yhxcgScOs

I know it sucks, but don't give up. I'm sure you feel pretty isolated and powerless right now, you're not to blame because this is the ideological work of Capitalism. Well let me tell you that you're definitely not alone. Maybe you can't personally reach out to people who believe in what you believe, but we're out there. The world is full of comrades, and soon there will be more because shit is going down and we will have our wake up call, don't think for a second we are done for, don't think for a second 1991 was the end of it like they made us believe!

I have savings but it’s “stay alive in case of emergency” savings not retirement savings, that’s not happening