Op-Ed: Is climate anxiety bad for the planet?
3 years, 5 months ago

Op-Ed: Is climate anxiety bad for the planet?

LA Times  

The American Psychological Assn. But if it takes anywhere between 10% to 51% of any given population to care about an issue to make significant change, why hasn’t all this climate anxiety led to more dramatic change? Contrary to popular progressive belief, we don’t necessarily need to get more people to care about the climate; climate anxiety is rampant, and people overwhelmingly care enough to tip the scales. A second problem with “climate anxiety” as a term is that it is too amorphous to conjure the kinds of actions required to mitigate climate change. We may feel climate change’s effects, such as increased heat, extreme weather events, rising sea levels and more infectious diseases like COVID, but climate change itself is imperceptible.

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History of this topic

Why do so many people ignore major threats like climate change?
2 weeks, 4 days ago

Why do so many people ignore major threats like climate change?

Salon  

Earlier last month, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that Earth’s average temperature in 2024 had been on average 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. “For too long now, scientific and media communications have presented the subject of climate change in ways that have failed to trigger an adequate threat warning among readers and viewers, and have also …

The upside of climate pessimism
3 weeks, 2 days ago

The upside of climate pessimism

Salon  

Hope is often said to be the best medicine, essential to getting people through difficult times. “The people that I know who are really seriously working on these issues and who are engaging in climate change activism,” Bloodhart said, stressing that this is her personal observation, “they have a little bit of hope, but they mostly are pretty pessimistic and …

How do I feel about climate change? Terrified — but action is essential
3 months, 1 week ago

How do I feel about climate change? Terrified — but action is essential

LA Times  

When I was a child, the possibility of apocalypse due to climate change seemed too distant for me to worry about. I never would have imagined that climate change would be an existential threat not in a few centuries, but within our modern era. I had watched a goofy comedy skit on YouTube when I was around 9 that suggested …

To fix climate anxiety, we first have to fix individualism
3 months, 1 week ago

To fix climate anxiety, we first have to fix individualism

LA Times  

How do you cope? “I understood in that moment that you cannot assume someone does not also experience anxiety simply because their way of talking about it may not be the same as yours.” It doesn’t help, she added, that many people don’t realize what they’re feeling is climate anxiety because the way we talk about it tends to center …

Feeling climate anxiety? These books offer glimmers of hope — and much-needed wisdom
3 months, 1 week ago

Feeling climate anxiety? These books offer glimmers of hope — and much-needed wisdom

LA Times  

I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on climate anxiety — and on the feelings of helplessness that have simmered in the hearts and minds of so many friends and colleagues. “The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here” by Hope Jahren : A slim but mighty read, this book is conversational, enlightening, …

A brewing storm
5 months, 4 weeks ago

A brewing storm

New Indian Express  

BENGALURU: In the summer that went by, the city of Bengaluru was trending on social media; this time not for its famed cool clime but for the deadly heat wave as temperatures touched 39°C, a number unheard of in namma ooru. I have never experienced such heat before,” shares Sargam Parashar, who found it extremely hard to concentrate on anything, …

A new global survey shows that people everywhere are concerned about climate change
6 months ago

A new global survey shows that people everywhere are concerned about climate change

NPR  

A new global survey shows that people everywhere are concerned about climate change A worldwide poll from the United Nations of more than 75,000 people shows a vast majority want governments to do more to address climate change. Two-thirds of respondents said climate change is affecting big decisions like where people live or work, and even more said they want …

‘Scared as hell’: Climate scientists risk jobs, jail to save dying planet
6 months, 1 week ago

‘Scared as hell’: Climate scientists risk jobs, jail to save dying planet

Al Jazeera  

“I was scared as hell. Abramoff was jarred by the data: “I remember feeling the enormity of all of the Earth systems that were already being affected by climate change and how little time we had to avert more catastrophic effects.” Overwhelmed by the severity of the climate impacts and the resulting human suffering, Abramoff, who was completing her postdoctorate …

Climate anxiety affecting Gen Z’s well-being
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Climate anxiety affecting Gen Z’s well-being

Live Mint  

Devastating consequences of worsening climate change are increasing concerns across the world. For the study, researchers from Curtin University surveyed Australian university students belonging to Generation Z and found that climate change was their topmost environmental concern. The findings, published in Sustainable Earth Reviews, climate anxiety is contributing to Gen Z’s overall sense of unease towards the future, which could …

Therapists warn of a new wave of anxiety fueled by climate change
9 months, 4 weeks ago

Therapists warn of a new wave of anxiety fueled by climate change

Hindustan Times  

When psychotherapist Caroline Hickman was asked to help a child overcome a fear of dogs, she introduced them to her Labradoodle, Murphy. “You build the skills, build the competence, build the confidence, and then they’re less scared of dogs generally.” Climate anxiety is a different beast, Hickman says. Among the close to 300 people who responded to a Bloomberg Green …

Climate change can make some people feel hopeless. Here's what can be done about it
10 months ago

Climate change can make some people feel hopeless. Here's what can be done about it

Salon  

Given the existential stakes of climate change, it makes sense to feel afraid or depressed about the future of the environment. In this case, the researchers included 57 peer reviewed studies based on whether they "investigated the effects of slow-onset climate change on a range of mental health indicators." In addition, the scientists determined that the most commonly studied mental …

Many young people are devastated by climate change. But from despair springs action, study suggests
1 year, 4 months ago

Many young people are devastated by climate change. But from despair springs action, study suggests

Salon  

When speaking with Salon in 2021, twenty-six-year-old climate activist Kidus Girma expressed anxiety about the future of the planet — but, at the same time, some hope that he might be able to play a tiny part in making things better. "Even in the absence of direct climate-related experiences, distress about climate change is affecting young people's aspirations." They added, …

What Is Climate Anxiety? Why It Is Affecting GenZ More
1 year, 10 months ago

What Is Climate Anxiety? Why It Is Affecting GenZ More

ABP News  

The climate change crisis has aggravated faster than expected all over the world. Climate anxiety, also known as eco-anxiety, is a chronic fear, worry, frustration, grief, stress, sadness, anger, and exhaustion pertaining to the climate change crisis and the failure of the government to control it. Climate anxiety usually occurs among people who are more concerned about the climate change …

Climate anxiety is a normal response to an abnormal situation. Here’s what to do about it
2 years, 2 months ago

Climate anxiety is a normal response to an abnormal situation. Here’s what to do about it

LA Times  

If I’m being totally honest, writing this week’s newsletter has made me edgy. “A lot of anxiety comes from assessing a problem and trying to solve it, but feeling like there isn’t anything you can do — so your mind just circles back to the problem,” said Andrew Bryant, a psychotherapist in Seattle and creator of Climate & Mind, a …

Covid and climate change pose similar behavioural challenges
2 years, 4 months ago

Covid and climate change pose similar behavioural challenges

Live Mint  

Climate-change activists should take some lessons from the mismanagement and miscommunication around the covid pandemic. Climate action faces a hurdle that hasn’t come up in the pandemic: a powerful fossil fuel lobby that’s been clever and influential, seeding public doubts about the science behind climate change. With climate change, the problem of emissions is so big people don’t know where …

Kids Suffer Climate Anxiety, Too. Adults Can Help
2 years, 10 months ago

Kids Suffer Climate Anxiety, Too. Adults Can Help

Wired  

When kids and teenagers think about the future, they have an extra burden: They have to deal with more of it than adults. “Or ‘What's the meaning in life, when this is what my future is going to look like?’ It sort of doesn't seem like anything's really being done about climate change. I think that's a massive contributor to …

Editorial: 1 in 3 Americans now ‘alarmed’ by climate change. Why aren’t our leaders?
2 years, 11 months ago

Editorial: 1 in 3 Americans now ‘alarmed’ by climate change. Why aren’t our leaders?

LA Times  

New results from a long-running public opinion survey show that about 1 in 3 Americans is now “alarmed” by global warming. The share of the U.S. adult population alarmed by global warming nearly doubled over the last five years from 18% to an all-time high of 33%, with about half of that increase occurring between December 2020 and September 2021, …

Feeling anxious about climate change? Here are 5 tips to manage those feelings
3 years, 2 months ago

Feeling anxious about climate change? Here are 5 tips to manage those feelings

NPR  

Feeling anxious about climate change? "What often happens with climate emotions is that they can push us out of what's called our window of tolerance," Wray says. Sponsor Message You may end up thinking about mortality, and that's not necessarily a bad thing "It's really hard to talk about the climate crisis without it becoming a conversation about death," Wray …

11 Sneaky Signs You Have 'Eco-Anxiety' (And What To Do About It)
3 years, 3 months ago

11 Sneaky Signs You Have 'Eco-Anxiety' (And What To Do About It)

Huff Post  

Bloomberg Creative via Getty Images Eco-anxiety is just as real as any other form of anxiety. “It’s far more helpful and uplifting to channel the time researching climate change to doing something about it,” Manly said. “This means everyone’s individual and moral responsibility is engaged, and our response to climate change is based on cooperation,” Lippe said. “When you practice …

The Antidote To Climate Dread
3 years, 3 months ago

The Antidote To Climate Dread

Huff Post  

The reality of the climate crisis is dire — and it can be overwhelming. “We are now in an all-hands-on-deck moment,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of Yale University’s program on climate change communication. There are small things we can do, but governments and corporations have much more power than single researchers and individual communities.” Rivera-Collazo said she’s “particularly worried” for …

Experiencing Climate Change Anxiety? This Futuristic Computer Game Helps You Make Sustainable Choices
3 years, 7 months ago

Experiencing Climate Change Anxiety? This Futuristic Computer Game Helps You Make Sustainable Choices

News 18  

It is the year 2050, the planet is warming up, meals come from nutritional food packs and dozens of new zoonotic viruses are spreading. “This is a game for everyone, but particularly for climate nihilistic Gen Z’s who know about climate change and feel hopeless and frustrated at the inaction they are seeing,” said Samantha Beckbessinger, an author and game …

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