Survey shows climate crisis greatly worries youth
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More than half of the young individuals surveyed reported feeling very or extremely worried about climate change.
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Climate march in Washington (Greenpeace)
According to a new survey published on Thursday in The Lancet Planetary Health, 10,000 young people aged 16 to 25 across 10 countries in the world are tremendously concerned about the climate issue and are particularly irritated by governments' passivity in the face of the planet's grim destiny.
The survey included youth from the US, UK, France, Finland, Australia, Portugal, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Brazil.
Of those surveyed, almost 60 percent reported feeling "very," or "extremely" concerned about the climate crisis, 45 percent of whom reported that their feelings negatively impacted their daily life.
The survey has been described by the authors as the "largest most global survey of climate anxiety in young people," noting that a majority (58%) of those surveyed disclosed their governments were "betraying me and/or future generations," by not making enough effort to prevent a climate disaster.
56 percent reported feeling frightened and that "humanity is doomed."
Mitzi Tan, a 23-year-old from the Philippines, said “I grew up being afraid of drowning in my own bedroom."
“Society tells me that this anxiety is an irrational fear that needs to be overcome — one that meditation and healthy coping mechanisms will ‘fix,’” the young climate activist added. “But that erases the accountability from those who are directly causing this fear. At its root, our climate anxiety comes from this deep-set feeling of betrayal because of government inaction. To truly address our growing climate anxiety, we need justice.”
According to the UN, the cause of climate change is clear: Humans. To be precise, the UN reports that Humans are the "unequivocal" cause of climate change and that the opportunity to right their wrongs is soon coming to an end.
According to climate data, 2021 witnessed some of the worst climate conditions ever recorded, such as the hottest July, the largest single wildfire in California's history, and a deadly hurricane Ida in the US that caused massive flooding.
