“Youth are increasingly taking on roles in environmental activism, such as the Fridays for
Future movement and Global Climate Strikes, both of which were spearheaded by youth
leaders. As a result of their involvement in difficult topics such as climate change and large scale biodiversity loss, youth are experiencing increasing impacts to their social and mental
wellbeing (Cianconi et al. 2020; Palinkas and Wong 2020; Vergunst and Barry 2022). There
is no formally defined mental health disorder or diagnosis to describe the emotions that
are often associated with an awareness of human-caused climate change. However, such
emotional states have been associated with a variety of acute and chronic mental illnesses
(Bourque and Cunsolo 2014; Cunsolo and Elis 2018). “Climate grief” is one of several
general terms used to encapsulate negative emotions such as cognitive dissonance, sadness,
and other forms of pain that people feel when experiencing loss associated with a changing
climate.”
Movements related to climate change tend to utilize doom and gloom to inspire rapid, immediate action. However, using this as the primary form of messaging can have the opposite effect. Growing up GenZ, I’ve seen countless “OUR EARTH IS DYING” headlines”, done trash pickups and recycling efforts, and experienced “climate grief” when nothing I do seems to make a difference. I know so many young adults who were once so passionate about the environment who now feel that it’s too far ruined to be worth fixing. I have been the target demographic for environmental education efforts, and having lived through that, I know that evoking negative feelings will only take a movement so far. In the end, people can spend their lives fighting against some unseen force, they need something tangible to fight for.
The foundation for a hopeful future has already been laid. While it may be covered in weeds of doom and gloom, together ODNR and I can come up with a solution to build a happier and sustainable future.
References
- [Climate change mindmap chalkboard]. (n.d.). Research Gate.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381371594_I_start_to_doubt_whether_any_of_my_actions_will_matter_youth_activists’_experiences_and_expressions_of_the_emotions_associated_with_climate_change/figures - Zurba, M., Baum-Talmor, P., Woodgate, R. L., Busolo, D., Park, A., Mendritzki,
E., & Binkley, L. (n.d.). I start to doubt whether any of my actions will
matter. In SpringerLink. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-024-03757-8
(Reprinted from Springer Link)
