Giving Compass' Take:
- Daisy Dunne reports on new research showing who climate anxiety impacts and how it affects the behavior of those reacting to the threat of climate change.
- What would it look like to take action for systems change that alleviates climate anxiety, given that climate anxiety is considered a healthy reaction to the genuine threat of climate change?
- Learn more about key climate justice issues and how you can help.
- Search our Guide to Good for nonprofits focused on climate justice in your area.
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Researchers call this growing phenomenon climate anxiety.
A new analysis examines 94 studies focused on this topic, involving 170,000 people across 27 countries, to explore who it is most likely to affect and what its possible consequences could be.
It finds that those who are more likely to experience it include women, young adults, people with “left-wing” views and those expressing “concerns” about nature or the “future”.
It is negatively related to wellbeing, according to the analysis, but positively related to participating in climate action, such as activism and behaviours to reduce emissions.
What Is ‘Climate Anxiety’?
The research, published in the journal Global Environmental Change, considers the term to “broadly refer to people’s feelings of anxiety and/or worry related to climate change”.
This is based on two established definitions, explains study lead author Dr Clara Kühner, a researcher of climate change and psychology at the University of Leipzig, Germany. She tells Carbon Brief:
“There is a discussion in the scientific community about what exactly constitutes climate change anxiety.”
The first definition comes from a 2023 research paper, which describes it as “persistent anxiety (apprehensiveness) and worry about climate change”.
The second comes from the American Psychological Association, which in 2020 used the term “eco anxiety” to describe “any anxiety or worry about climate change and its effects”.
Kühner explains that “eco anxiety could be interpreted as being more broadly related to the ecological crisis…but [the American Psychological Association] describe it as any anxiety or worry related to climate change”.
Her team noticed that there has been an “increasing amount of research” into this topic over the past few years, she adds:
“Research on the topic has exploded. That’s a signal that it’s very relevant to researchers, but also to society and the public.
Read the full article about climate anxiety by Daisy Dunne at Eco-Business.