Survey reveals Young people’s climate anxiety (my high-lights)
“Climate change is causing distress, anger and other negative emotions in children and young people worldwide, a survey of thousands of 16- to 25-year-olds has found. This ‘eco-anxiety’ has a negative impact on respondents’ daily lives, say the researchers who conducted the survey, and is partly caused by the feeling that governments aren’t doing enough to avoid a climate catastrophe” (Nature.com)
“The survey — the largest of its kind — asked 10,000 young people in 10 countries how they felt about climate change and government responses to it. The results, released in a preprint on 14 September, found that most respondents were concerned about climate change, with nearly 60% saying they felt ‘very worried’ or ‘extremely worried’. Many associated negative emotions with climate change — the most commonly chosen were ‘sad’, ‘afraid’, ‘anxious’, ‘angry’ and ‘powerless’ (see ‘Climate anxiety’). Overall, 45% of participants said their feelings about climate change impacted their daily lives.” Via nature.com
“As much as we try to make change, I also see government inaction — trees being cut up on the daily,” Jennifer Uchendu, a climate activist based in Lagos, told reporters at a press conference where the survey results were presented. She recalled feeling anger and grief about government-backed deforestation in her country. “Young people are having to suffer the brunt of these issues when crisis or disasters come in….In the survey, nearly two-thirds of respondents from Nigeria said that their feelings about climate change had negatively affected their daily life.” Via nature.com
Watch Gerd’s Youtube videos on what he calls The DDR: Digitization, Decarbonisation and Reformation
“Among those who said they have talked to others about climate change (81%), nearly half reported being ignored or dismissed. “There is a general ‘othering’ of children in society, and children’s voices that threaten the predominant narrative of the most powerful group in society,” says study co-author Caroline Hickman, a climate-psychology researcher at the University of Bath, UK. Until now, there has been little research on the psychological impacts of climate change on children, she adds.” Via nature.com
Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate write an open letter to the Global Media
“Dear media editors around the world, Melting glaciers, wildfires, droughts, deadly heatwaves, floods, hurricanes, loss of biodiversity. These are all symptoms of a destabilizing planet, which are happening around us all the time. Those are the kind of things you report about. Sometimes. The climate crisis, however, is much more than just this. If you want to truly cover the climate crisis, you must also report on the fundamental issues of time, holistic thinking and justice…” More Via Time.com
