You may not realize how much anxiety is with climate change, especially with the younger generations. I was stunned to learn that climate anxiety is so widespread. Climate anxiety is increasingly being referred to as eco-anxiety, described as feelings of fear, stress, and worry that people feel about the future of Earth. Professional terms for climate anxiety include chronic fear of environmental doom, climate doom, or existential climate dread. Sometimes the media or social media adds to the anxiety by dramatizing the anticipated disasters associated with climate change. The doomsayers proclaim there is nothing we can do about climate change, and it will only get worse. Then there are the unbelievers who marginalize climate change as not a big deal, nothing to worry about, or everything will eventually resolve itself. But more people are becoming anxious as they become more aware of the extent of our present and future global crises, and those emotions are affecting their physical and mental health. People are upset and distressed about what has already been lost, what is being lost before their very eyes, and what may or will be lost which makes them worry about their future.
The United Kingdom has been doing quite a bit of research on eco-anxiety. The University of Bath surveyed 10,000 people from ten countries on their feelings about climate change, who were between the ages of 16 and 21. According to the researchers, “[t]he overall response could be summed up in one expression: ‘incredibly worried.” In fact, “75% described the future as ‘frightening’” and “60% said they were ‘extremely’ worried about climate change.” The survey also revealed deeper feelings of betrayal and abandonment including the failure to take care of our planet, distrust of governments for failing to adequately respond, and anger at prior generations including parents. Many of the survey respondents indicated they felt helpless and that their fear and worry affected their day-to-day lives.
For whatever reasons, many people do not even give climate change a second thought, and it certainly isn’t a priority for them. I think about climate change and the environment every day, but I don’t know whether I am suffering from eco-anxiety. But many people have sleepless nights thinking about the things they are seeing which are being attributed to climate change, and they are worried about what Earth will look like. Some people feel guilty or paralyzed by climate change because they don’t know what they can do to help. Professionals like psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists are finding that the mental state of children and young adults are deteriorating because of climate change. If you are paying attention to what is happening in the world, it’s easy to see that air and water temperatures around the world are rising. There are stronger and more widespread fires destroying houses and displacing families. There are increasing and longer lasting droughts all over the world. Glaciers and artic ice are melting. More species of animals are becoming endangered. The consequences of climate change are more frequently being discussed and covered by the media. People all over the world believe or are beginning to believe that critical issues like sea level rise, deforestation, water and air pollution, biodiversity, waste disposal, overpopulation, urban sprawl, food, and water insecurity, will ever be addressed by their governments or leaders.
A 2018 study entitled “Climate Change in the American Mind” indicated about 73% of Americans believe global warming is happening, and about 60% of Americans believe global warming is mostly caused by humans. The survey also indicated about 70% are worried about climate change with 51% feeling helpless about climate change. People are seeing the dangers and damage of climate change. They are worried if they are living too close to the water or in flood prone areas. They are worried if they are at risk from drought, tornadoes, wildfires, or hurricanes. They are anxious about where they should be living to raise a family, or even whether to have children.
Eco-anxiety is a real problem. We will look closer inour next articles on this topic
References:
https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Climate-Change-American-Mind-December-2018.pdf
https://earthandhuman.org/eco-anxiety/
https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/04/25/herie-are-all-the-positive-environmental-stories-from-2023-so-far
https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/01/18/two-thirds-of-brits-are-struggling-with-climate-anxiety-heres-what-you-can-do-about-it
https://us.sganalytics.com/blog/climate-change-affecting-millennials-gen-z-reports-of-climate-anxiety-rising/
https://earthandhuman.org/top-environmental-concerns/
Martin,G., Reilly, K., Everitt, H., & Gilliland, J. A. (2022). The impact ofclimate change awareness on children's mental well‐being and negativeemotions–a scoping review. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 27(1),59-72.
Ágoston,C., Csaba, B., Nagy, B., Kőváry, Z., Dúll, A., Rácz, J., & Demetrovics, Z.(2022). Identifying types of eco-anxiety, eco-guilt, eco-grief, and eco-copingin a climate-sensitive population: A qualitative study. Internationaljournal of environmental research and public health, 19(4),2461.
