For those of us with young children, there is no shortage of questions we as adults are expected to know the answers to. It’s generally very sweet, at least for me, to hear how inquisitive young minds can be. Some questions are easier and more fun to answer, while others (think “Is the Tooth Fairy real?” or “Where do babies come from?”) require a defter, more thoughtful response. And for whatever reason, I have been getting a lot more of these questions in my house as of late.
As children get older, they will inevitably be exposed to more and more national and world news, which will likely only lead to more – and more complicated – questions. My kids have grown up listening in on conference calls, watching Dad show up on television, and heard me openly discuss difficult topics with family and friends – from Medicaid expansion to mental health and addiction, they listen and ask questions, which usually prompts a longer conversation about an important topic.
But recently, the conversations I have been having are trending away from health policy and mental health (though still important), and gone into things like “Why is the weather so weird right now?” or “What will the weather be like when I am older?” This prompted me to start to think about how we should respond when our children ask us about climate change?
I think the science is clear that climate change is an increasingly dire existential threat to humanity, and to the world as we know it. I wish there was a nicer, less scary way to put it, but the continual downplaying or outright ignoring of climate change have played a large role in why we are where we are. The World Health Organization projects that between 2030 and 2050, climate change will lead to an additional 250,000 deaths per year due to things like malnutrition and heat stress, and result in an additional $2 to 4 billion in health costs.
There is also an increasing toll that climate change is taking on our mental health, particularly that of younger people. In a landmark survey last year of 10,000 people aged 16-25 in 10 countries, nearly 60 percent said they were “very worried” or “extremely worried” about climate change. The emotions most commonly associated with climate change are also very telling: sad, afraid, anxious, angry, and powerless.
Don’t look up?
In an updated report from the American Psychological Association and ecoAmerica, over three-quarters of Americans say they are concerned or “alarmed” about climate change. Worsening social, political, and economic disparities also mean that climate risks, and thus climate anxiety, are greater among women, citizens with disabilities, immigrant and Indigenous communities, the elderly, communities of color, and LGBTQIA+ individuals.
This is indicative of a relatively recent, yet woefully understudied phenomenon known as “ecological grief.” It’s similar to the types of grief we are all more familiar with from experiencing losses, only the losses we’re grieving now are those of ecosystems, of species, of the environments that we had become accustomed to. By now we have all seen photos of emaciated polar bears sitting hopelessly atop a rapidly melting chunk of ice, surrounded by nothing by water. We have read about the types of majestic animals and endemic plant life that are at risk of being rendered extinct in the near future. And the more we learn about the causes and impacts of climate change, the more we realize that the low-income countries and communities that will suffer its most immediate, harshest effects have had the least to do with causing it. It’s hard not to have some “climate anxiety” with all of these changes.
Extreme weather events like wildfires, tornadoes, and floods – all of which are becoming more frequent and more devastating – are also exacerbating, if not directly causing, other mental health conditions, including PTSD, depression, survivor’s guilt, substance use, and suicide ideation. Hurricane survivors often grapple with symptoms of post-traumatic stress months and even years after the physical storm has passed.
It’s on us – what we can do?
Witnessing these events, whether up close or from afar, takes a toll on us all. But there are a few things we can do to address these emotions. And this won’t be a shocker for many of you as these tips and tricks are the same for many issues we have to address in life.
● Acknowledge the problem. First and foremost, we must recognize that our natural environment is inextricably linked to our health and mental wellbeing much in the way that income and food, job, and housing security are. Own this and stop seeing these things as disconnected. It will help our kids be more accurate in their assessment of their own life when they see the interconnectivity between our environment and our health.
● Encourage federal, state and local leaders to take action. Governmental action or inaction on the issue will have direct repercussions. Federal policies are necessary to curb greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency in substantive ways. The Clean Air Act and the U.S.’ rejoining of the Paris Agreement will make an impact on climate change both domestically and abroad. But we know that action is rarely taken by our elected leaders without some demand from the general public. Speak up, speak out, and let your voice be heard on what you think needs to be done.
● Talk to friends and loved ones. I’ve previously written about how sharing our emotions - the good, bad, and ugly - with others is beneficial for overall mental well-being and fears and anxieties that we may have around climate change are no different. Getting these feelings out in the open will do wonders for you and even those around you.
● Do your part. Participate in a local clean up, carpool to work (whenever you return to the office), try meatless Mondays, start a compost, or plant a community garden. These individual efforts may not entirely solve climate change but will help you feel that you are making a difference in your own community and do wonders for your mental health.
Believe me, I understand feeling discouraged. The mental health ramifications of climate change are rooted largely in despair and the notion that we are on a one-way journey whose only destination is complete catastrophe. I feel it deeply for my kids – those asking the good questions. I wonder about the legacy I leave them behind – from policy change to our climate. Our logical remedies, then, and our own grassroots efforts to be more environmentally conscious, must be rooted in hope – hope for a cleaner, brighter, safer future than the one we see now. A future we can pass on and explain to our children, not with regret and sorrow for what we neglected to do, but with satisfaction and pride in what we did.
P.S. – If you liked this week’s post and are interested in some excellent additional reading about the emotional impacts of climate change, I strongly recommend subscribing to Britt Wray’s Gen Dread. Her Substack newsletter is packed with heartfelt insights and helpful tips on climate and how we can all improve our mental health during these trying times.