We are quite frankly failing our children and young people generally. We should be ashamed.

[kpete]

The largest study of its kind shows that the environmental crisis is causing widespread psychological distress for young people across the globe. In a paper released Tuesday, researchers from the United States, United Kingdom, and Finland found that 45 percent of teens and young adults say climate anxiety is affecting their daily lives and ability to function. It’s the first study to suggest that young people’s emotional distress is strongly linked to their governments’ failure to respond.

“This study paints a horrific picture of widespread climate anxiety in our children and young people,” said Caroline Hickman, a co-author and a researcher at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, in a statement.

Three-quarters of those surveyed said that the “future is frightening,” with more than half believing that “humanity is doomed.” Nearly 4 in 10 said that they are hesitant to have children.

The study, under peer review in the journal Lancet Planetary Health, surveyed 10,000 people between the ages of 16 to 25 in February and March this year. The respondents came from 10 countries: Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Portugal, the U.K., and the U.S. Researchers found that concern about climate change was concentrated more heavily in poorer countries, which have contributed the least to the greenhouse gas emissions heating up the planet. In the Philippines, for example, 92 percent agreed that the future was frightening, compared with 68 percent in the United States.

Some 58 percent of those surveyed said that their governments are betraying them and future generations. That number was particularly high, 77 percent, in Brazil, where deforestation and fire in the Amazon rainforest have risen under President Jair Bolsonaro.



MORE:
https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2021/09/climate-grief
https://grist.org/article/climate-anxiety-study-young-people-think-humanity-is-doomed/
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3918955

[secondwind]

1. K&R

[lindysalsagal]

2. Only government can end the dinosaur of combustion pollution

and solid waste. I want to see us establish global containers that are washed and re-used for everything. But advertisers will kill journalism before they allow it to happen and effect their revenue stream. Everything must come from government. Same with gunz and healthcare and drugs.

[c-rational]

5. +1 Agreed., only government and true leadership can lead us out of what I believe is a nightmare

scenario. That includes R&D to develop some means of removing CO2 from te atmosphere.

[SharonClark]

3. Aren't we all suffering from anxiety over climate change AND trumpism?

No wonder the kids are suffering, too.

[Sympthsical]

4. I already see one big problem with the study

Only 2/3rds of respondents actually completed it, and the surveys were by invitation. Even controlling for representation, there's major response bias (people who feel more strongly on a topic are likelier to respond or complete a survey).

So this is already primed for a headline grabbing result.

This is also a difficult area to track, because you have so many confounding variables involved. How much of these responses is tied to economic or political anxiety unrelated to climate?

I don't doubt climate anxiety. I'm an older Millennial, and I certainly feel anxious about the future of climate and the lack of governmental response we've gotten my entire adult life. I'm definitely falling into the category of those who think it's probably too late, and we better hope technology makes adaptation easier.

But this study seems like it was going to get this result no matter what, so eh. This is apropos of nothing. I just like digging into studies for methodology and what researchers are trying to angle at.