CONFRONTING CHANGES TO OUR CLIMATE

BY LIZZY SIDMAN Production and Ads & Business Executive

In the words of celebrated climate justice activist Greta Thunberg, our house is on fire. Our Earth’s climate is deteriorating at a catastrophically increasing rate due to humans’ actions, or lack thereof. Humans, who are the most advanced and intelligent organisms in the world, are killing the planet they need to survive.

Before climate change was largely acknowledged, upcoming generations had no reason to fear the irreversible damage that people might be causing. Evidence of climate change has existed ever since industrialization eras erupted across the world throughout the 1800s, resulting in Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius’s 1896 discovery of the greenhouse effect and English engineer Guy Callendar’s 1938 revelation that carbon dioxide increases and global warming were intertwined. Following those findings, some people began to make changes to reduce the damage, but even then, there was no documentation of widespread anxiety regarding the environment until the late 1990s.

Generally, this generation of young adults and adolescents are the first to live most of their lives with the threat of a point of no return looming in the future. As our generation matures, many are beginning to understand the failures of our elders and the existential threat that the climate crisis imposes.

As new information regarding climate change emerges daily, there seems less and less of a chance of remedying our broken planet. From climate-related crises, what is known to psychologists as climate anxiety can arise.

Climate anxiety, or eco-anxiety, is described as “heightened emotional, mental or somatic distress in response to dangerous changes in the climate system” by the Climate Psychology Alliance in their ongoing project, Handbook of Climate Psychology.

Climate anxiety is a new diagnosis that can be given by a mental health professional and is particularly evident in young people. Despite the medical terminology, climate anxiety is rarely diagnosed as a mental disorder but rather a rational reaction to our deteriorating world.

“I don’t see anxiety about climate change as a problem to be solved or a condition to be medicated,” seasoned psychotherapist Steffi Bednarek said in a 2019 interview with Therapy Today. “To me, it’s an important encounter with our awareness of our impact on the world and the reality that the world is facing a climate emergency.”

Real disorders, like anxiety, surrounding climate change discussions can be stress-inducing, but psychological professionals like Bednarek maintain that a little anxiety regarding this issue could be beneficial.

According to a 2021 study by environmental research journal The Lancet Planetary Health, 57.8% of 1000 surveyed Americans between the ages of 16 and 25 expressed anxiety regarding climate change. With these high rates of anxiety among young people, one might expect them to be secluding themselves and overwhelmed by fear, but that is not the case.

Today, young people are leading the charge against the climate crisis. As some are dedicating their lives to the survival of future generations, climate anxiety may be the push that inspires the movement.

The now 20-year-old Thunberg is a pinnacle representation of climate activism, as she started skipping school on Fridays to protest in front of the Swedish parliament at just 15.

Over the years, Thunberg’s protests attracted worldwide attention, and she soon became one of the faces of the climate action movement.

Thunberg is appealing to audiences because of her fear and her anxiety. Thunberg, like many other young people, fears the point of no return. Scientists have been unable to agree on the exact time frame, but many believe we are less then a decade away from damage that cannot be fixed. Her fear motivates her to push boundaries and call for further action.

Spreading awareness for the impact of air travel on the environment, Thunberg also famously traveled for 14 days on a carbon-neutral boat to speak at the United Nations. This effort was exemplary, but such endeavors can unintentionally spread a false message that individual choices alone can save the climate.

It is an admirable effort to stop using plastic bags, go vegan, use an electric vehicle or sail across the ocean instead of flying, but these attempts are just one drop of water sprayed on our house engulfed with flames.

Some people will acknowledge humans’ failure by saying, “It’s all our fault,” but they are not entirely correct. Some humans’ actions are responsible, yet it can be dangerous to blame the average person who simply exists in a broken system. Climate anxiety can be helpful, but it is futile if it is used to fuel anything other than dismantling systems that allow for such a climate catastrophe.

Activism is the answer. The youth are the answer. Climate anxiety is not ideal, but it is far better than feeling nothing as our world deteriorates. If we refuse to wait for politicians to find time for climate discussions and dictate legislation themselves, there is a future. The end is not near if we have something to say about it.

Story by Katie Pfotenhauer