A “supermajority” — 85 percent — of young Americans polled feel distressed about human-caused climate change and, and similar percentages want stronger action from corporations and the government, according to a new study published in The Lancet Planetary Health.
In the survey — the largest of its kind — most of the 16,000 respondents aged 16 to 25, from every state in the country, said they were worried about the impact climate change was having on humans and the planet, reported the Chicago Tribune.
More than 60 percent of those surveyed said they felt powerlessness, anxiety, fear, sadness and anger due to the climate crisis, with high levels of concern regardless of political affiliation.
“One of the most striking findings of the survey was that this was across the political spectrum,” said lead author of the study Eric Lewandowski, an associate professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, as The Guardian reported. “There was no state sample where the endorsement of climate anxiety came in less than 75%.”
A third of the respondents said their ability to focus on school or work, sleep, eat, have fun, enjoy their relationships and go about the activities of their daily lives was affected by their distress over the climate crisis, reported The Chicago Tribune.
“Honestly, the results don’t surprise me. I’ve seen it in my friends, I’ve seen it in myself. I’ve seen the despair,” said Zoharia Drizin, a 24-year-old Chicago resident who is a Climate Mental Health Network Gen Z advisory board member, as the Chicago Tribune reported.
The strong emotional response to the climate crisis did come with a hearty desire for action. More than two thirds of respondents want the government of the United States and other nations to prepare for and prevent the worst effects of global heating.
“To be able to put numbers on it is very heartening,” said co-author of the study Lise Van Susteren, who is a psychiatrist and George Washington University School of Medicine professor of behavioral sciences, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. “Because it feels that we’re going to be better at breaking through the denial or the dismissiveness or the downplaying that has kept society and everyone else from taking the action that is necessary.”
Researchers say young people do not feel that the climate crisis is being properly addressed, and as long as that continues, so will their feelings of distress.
Van Susteren said the purpose of the study was “to reach hearts and minds and get past the political hurdles that have been so divisive.”
The factors that were most referred to as contributing to concern included the actions of industries and corporations, the current U.S. government response and weather changes.
The study found that most people felt ignored and angry due to the actions of the government related to the climate crisis, as though those in charge had betrayed and failed them and younger generations.
“When young people speak about their personal feelings, you can hear a pin drop,” said Van Susteren. “And the response is that it can awaken in those powerful adults the sense of their moral and ethical responsibility to do what they can because they are people with the capacity to make change, whether it’s judges or lawyers or teachers or policymakers.”
The most common events those surveyed said they had experienced were heat waves or extreme heat and air or smoke pollution.
“Last summer… the alternation between severe rainstorms and then air pollution warnings, and just going back and forth between that was really jarring for me,” said Drizin, as the Chicago Tribune reported. “It kind of gave me this sense of claustrophobia, like the whole world was caving in, almost like there’s nowhere I can be that’s actually safe.”
The majority of respondents said their climate concerns are affecting life decisions like whether or not to have children and where to live. More than half of young people in the U.S. said they were unsure of having kids because of the climate crisis.
“I see elderly folks or even people who are 50,” Drizin said, “somebody in that age who is living their life full of love and doing the things they want to do in their family — I pray that I can get to that age and be able to experience that same joy.”