Scientific case for avoiding dangerous climate change to protect young people and nature

28 pages, 6 figures; version submitted to Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesPeer reviewe

Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change : a global survey

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseBackground: Climate change has important implications for the health and futures of children and young people, yet they have little power to limit its harm, making them vulnerable to climate anxiety. This is the first large-scale investigation of climate anxiety in children and young people globally and its relationship with perceived government response. Methods: We surveyed 10 000 children and young people (aged 16–25 years) in ten countries (Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, India, Nigeria, Philippines, Portugal, the UK, and the USA; 1000 participants per country). Invitations to complete the survey were sent via the platform Kantar between May 18 and June 7, 2021. Data were collected on participants’ thoughts and feelings about climate change, and government responses to climate change. Descriptive statistics were calculated for each aspect of climate anxiety, and Pearson's correlation analysis was done to evaluate whether climate-related distress, functioning, and negative beliefs about climate change were linked to thoughts and feelings about government response. Findings: Respondents across all countries were worried about climate change (59% were very or extremely worried and 84% were at least moderately worried). More than 50% reported each of the following emotions: sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty. More than 45% of respondents said their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily life and functioning, and many reported a high number of negative thoughts about climate change (eg, 75% said that they think the future is frightening and 83% said that they think people have failed to take care of the planet). Respondents rated governmental responses to climate change negatively and reported greater feelings of betrayal than of reassurance. Climate anxiety and distress were correlated with perceived inadequate government response and associated feelings of betrayal. Interpretation: Climate anxiety and dissatisfaction with government responses are widespread in children and young people in countries across the world and impact their daily functioning. A perceived failure by governments to respond to the climate crisis is associated with increased distress. There is an urgent need for further research into the emotional impact of climate change on children and young people and for governments to validate their distress by taking urgent action on climate change. Funding: AVAAZ.Peer reviewe

Coping with eco-anxiety: An interdisciplinary perspective for collective learning and strategic communication

Anthropogenic climate change and ecological crisis are affecting people's mental health. One such manifestation, eco-anxiety, is anxiety in the form of negative, troublesome, and automatic physiological, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions to climate change and ecological degradation. The speed, scale, and severity of unfolding environmental crises will continue to exacerbate experiences of eco-anxiety. Scholars and practitioners are still in the early stages of understanding and addressing the phenomenon. To help prioritize future endeavors, we advocate for an interdisciplinary approach to address the urgency and complexity of eco-anxiety, which can be understood in the context of a larger problem facing humanity. We provide an eco-anxiety primer based on recent scoping reviews and seminal empirical research. Additionally, we recommend four opportunities for collective learning and strategic communication: (1) motivational and actionable message framing, (2) storytelling for social and behavior change, (3) knowledge sharing and linked resources, and (4) positive deviance for complex problem-solving. We hope this article will benefit health practitioners, media professionals, academic researchers, policy makers, community leaders, climate activists, and other stakeholders

Assessing “Dangerous Climate Change”: Required reduction of carbon emissions to protect young people, future generations and ngature

International audienceWe assess climate impacts of global warmingusing ongoing observations and paleoclimate data. Weuse Earth’s measured energy imbalance, paleoclimatedata, and simple representations of the global carboncycle and temperature to define emission reductionsneeded to stabilize climate and avoid potentially disastrous impacts on today’s young people, future generations, and nature. A cumulative industrial-era limit of,500 GtC fossil fuel emissions and 100 GtC storage in thebiosphere and soil would keep climate close to theHolocene range to which humanity and other species areadapted. Cumulative emissions of ,1000 GtC, sometimesassociated with 2°C global warming, would spur ‘‘slow’’feedbacks and eventual warming of 3–4°C with disastrousconsequences. Rapid emissions reduction is required torestore Earth’s energy balance and avoid ocean heatuptake that would practically guarantee irreversibleeffects. Continuation of high fossil fuel emissions, givencurrent knowledge of the consequences, would be an actof extraordinary witting intergenerational injustice. Responsible policymaking requires a rising price on carbonemissions that would preclude emissions from mostremaining coal and unconventional fossil fuels and phasedown emissions from conventional fossil fuel

United States energy consumption [229].

<p>United States energy consumption <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0081648#pone.0081648-US1" target="_blank">[229]</a>.</p

Climate forcings employed in our six main scenarios.

<p>Forcings through 2010 are as in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0081648#pone.0081648-Hansen7" target="_blank">[64]</a>.</p

Simulated global temperature relative to 1880–1920 mean for CO₂ scenarios of Figure 5.

<p>Simulated global temperature relative to 1880–1920 mean for CO₂ scenarios of <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0081648#pone-0081648-g005" target="_blank">Figure 5</a>.</p

Decay of atmospheric CO₂ perturbations.

<p>(A) Instantaneous injection or extraction of CO₂ with initial conditions at equilibrium. (B) Fossil fuel emissions terminate at the end of 2015, 2030, or 2050 and land use emissions terminate after 2015 in all three cases, i.e., thereafter there is no net deforestation.</p

Atmospheric CO₂ if fossil fuel emissions reduced.

<p>(A) 6% or 2% annual cut begins in 2013 and 100 GtC reforestation drawdown occurs in 2031–2080, (B) effect of delaying onset of emission reduction.</p

Global surface temperature relative to 1880–1920 mean.

<p>B shows the 5 and 11 year means. Figures are updates of <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0081648#pone.0081648-Hansen2" target="_blank">[16]</a> using data through August 2013.</p