11min chapter

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BBC Inside Science

CHAPTER

Navigating Climate Anxiety and Taking Positive Action

The chapter discusses the prevalence of climate anxiety and its impact on individuals' mental health, emphasizing the need to channel anxiety into productive action. It explores how people can stay engaged with environmental issues while maintaining a sense of positivity and optimism. The conversation encourages collective action, highlighting the importance of individual contributions and societal changes in addressing climate change.

00:00
Speaker 8
Rocco's second
Speaker 5
biggest dam is drying up. The new report paints a bleak picture of the future of coral reefs. US officials say another mass bleaching event is already underway.
Speaker 1
I don't know about you, but that does make me feel quite stressed. But feeling anxious, feeling powerless certainly doesn't mean we don't care about that issue. So how do we distinguish the most important news from all of the noise and how do we stay engaged without being overwhelmed? Well, I'm joined by Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh, an environmental psychologist from the University of Bath and Tom Rivet Karnak, an author, political strategist and co-host of the podcast, Outrage and Optimism. Lorraine, Tom, thank you. Welcome to the program. Nice to
Speaker 5
be with you. Nice to be
Speaker 1
here. Thank you. Well, thanks for joining us. First of all, Tom, have we got a problem here? So much information, but it's not engaging people. It's turning them away.
Speaker 3
Absolutely. I mean, I think there was a piece of work done recently that demonstrated that globally, well over 80% of articles that talk about climate change talk about the impacts. They talk about what's going wrong, all of the negative impacts. And it's very difficult to know what to do with that. I mean, that little clip you just played there pointed to the recent mass bleaching event that happened in the Great Barrier Reef where so much of the coral was bleached. It's hard to know as an individual what do you do when you try and absorb that sort of information. It's hard to even feel it, but it's also difficult to know what does that then turn into in your life. And I think it's important to point out that we're all different in how we respond to crises and opportunities around us. Right? Some of us will hear that and think, oh my God, I've got to be on the streets doing something about this. It will be energizing and motivating. But for many other people, it will just make them feel really worried. And then as it keeps coming and keeps coming, the news media is now prevalent with our devices. That's the other element that has really exacerbated this fact. We can't get away with it. It can feel incredibly overwhelming in a manner that then ends up making us feel trapped and
Speaker 1
stuck and depressed rather than energized and determined. Yeah. And Lorraine, is that feeling of being trapped and stuck overwhelmed? Is that climate anxiety? How would you define it?
Speaker 5
Yes, that's definitely a big part of what we would see as being climate anxiety. So climate anxiety is really this existential dread, this sense that of overwhelming worry about climate change that can spill over into people's day-to-day functioning. It may mean that they can't sleep or they can't concentrate on what they have to do every day. And so it's become a problem for people. So, and while we don't see that there is really widespread climate anxiety on that scale, what we do see is that majorities across most countries say they are worried about climate change. So it is something that has been increasing in recent years. Right. So it's on the increase.
Speaker 1
Is it which groups of people are getting the most anxious? Who is feeling most overwhelmed by all of this information?
Speaker 5
So we see that young people in particular report having higher levels of climate anxiety and climate worry. We see people that have other existing mental health worries like generalized anxiety, reporting higher levels of climate anxiety. And we see the strongest predictor actually of people who say they're climate anxious are those that are exposed to and seek out information on media about climate change. And so although the causality there is a bit unclear, it may be that they're anxious and they look for information to sort of try to ease that anxiety. It's more likely to be a sort of two-way relationship that actually that information is probably exacerbating their anxiety. Right.
Speaker 1
So how can people ease that anxiety and it's a big question and still feel informed? Well, I
Speaker 5
think it's important to say as well that we do see that people that say they are anxious about climate change also are doing more to tackle the issues. So on the one hand, it might be quite a positive motivating factor to get people to take action because it's a big concern. They want to do something about it and actually channeling that anxiety into positive action is something that psychologists generally would say is a positive way to deal with that. It only becomes like a serious issue if you actually can't sleep and can't concentrate on things and are really struggling. But actually taking action and taking action with other people
Speaker 1
collectively can be probably one of the best ways to respond. Right. And Tom, Lorraine commented there on how the anxiety can be a motivating factor, but there's a fine balance there. Why is it important that people stay positive as well as staying engaged? Well, that
Speaker 3
point that was just made by Lorraine is very good. The underlying thing here is that the problem isn't climate anxiety. The problem is that we have a planet that's heating up and creating all of these risks. So that's the bit that we need to address. And some people would say that that anxiety is very well placed. The challenge is how do we sort of meet the phenomena of all this stuff happening in the world and then use it as a spur for consistent action. And I definitely agree that anxiety can be that spur, but I've also seen in my work, the Paris Agreement and other things that if you want mass engagement, actually, a sense of possibility and optimism and the sense that we can all come together and do a big thing in a shared way is actually much more powerful to getting to those critical numbers in society that bring everybody together. So in that, I would say it's not necessary to look at every single piece of negative news media. I think people can actually give themselves a bit of a break. I give myself a break. If I'm looking at all this stuff and it's exhausting, I just step away from it for a bit. Yeah, I
Speaker 1
do. I do. And I work in news. So, yeah, it can feel just too much if the volume of it is coming at you all at once. And I'm reminded a little
Speaker 3
bit of that terrible quote from Stalin where he said, a single death is a tragedy and a million is a statistic. I mean, again, those big things, how do we feel them actually paying attention to small things in your garden or in your community where you see nature emerging this time of year, the flowers coming out. That can make you feel really connected in a really positive way. But the other thing I would point out, and this is a place where I really hope the media will change, is that we are actually seeing exponential transformation towards solutions. I genuinely think that there is evidence out there that we are closer than we think to real tipping points that can remake our world in a positive way. But we're not surrounding ourselves with the evidence of that transformation because it's not what we're being fed through our devices. So, I think there's
Speaker 2
something that... Give me
Speaker 1
some of those examples of that evidence. Well, we're re-engaging people with this issue in a positive way. What would you cite? What would you point out to people who were feeling overwhelmed by all this bad news? Well, I mean,
Speaker 3
the very big one is when we were negotiating the Paris Agreement 10 years ago, we would say to countries, one day, the solutions to climate change will be cheaper, wind and solar and electric vehicles than what you have right now. But it wasn't true then. It is true now. Wind and solar are the cheapest form of new power in over 170 countries around the world. Electric transportation is just cheaper and better. At the point of sale, there may be a few issues, but if you look at it across society, it's cheaper, it's better, it's moving us forward. And there's lots of examples when you look at restoring nature and other people getting engaged. And Lorraine,
Speaker 1
some people feel like they want to do things like recycle, eat less meat, fly less, do things that can have a positive impact, but feel disheartened by the small scale of their actions in comparison to the big scale of the problem. What advice would you give people? I think that's
Speaker 5
absolutely true. I mean, I think the first thing to say is you're not alone in worrying about climate change. In fact, actually around about 80% of the public in the UK are worried about climate change and similar levels in many other countries. So most people are worried and most people are trying to change their lifestyle. They can find it difficult. There are definitely barriers, but most people are trying to take some steps at least to green their lifestyle and reduce their carbon footprint. And I guess I would also say, while those barriers remain and it can be more expensive or more inconvenient sometimes to do the right thing, it's our roles are not only as consumers. Those are we can buy an electric vehicle if we have the money, but there are other things that we can do within workplaces, within communities as voters. So we have a we have general elections coming up. There are choices that we can make at the ballot box to to vote in politicians that can bring about wider structural change within society and really accelerate this transition that that Tom's been talking about. So it's it's thinking about the multiple roles that we have actually and even just having a conversation with somebody else about climate change, because we know that people underestimate wider support for change and
Speaker 1
therefore feel they're alone in in in wanting action. Yeah. And Tom, how about you? You know, what would be your advice apart from, you know, stay informed, but do give yourself a break from the volume of information, same form by listening to programs like this, for example, but what advice would you give people who do feel that their actions are small. So I really like
Speaker 3
the answer you just gave that Lorraine just gave, but I would I generally break it down to say there's three things. First of all, this is a decisive decade. It's consequential to be alive right now as a privilege. We can make the difference how you show up at this moment matters. So yes, there are real sources of concern, but deciding to face this moment with a sense of stubborn and determined optimism that we call come through it actually makes an impact on the whole. The second thing is your own impact. Some people say it's not enough. It's so small. Everyone listening to this podcast is part of the 20% of the people on the planet who are creating 80% of the problem. But it's fault. That's just the reality of how it is. Map out how you're going to reduce your own footprint by 50% by the end of the decade. Actually, with thought and planning, that's enough time. Most of the capital intensive items in your life will be changed. You can think about how you want to live your life and it will make you feel like you're part of a great generational endeavor, rather than struggling away on your own. And third, just as Lorraine said, work out how you touch power. That will be different for everybody. You might have a job with an important company or you might sit on a school board or you have a pension or whatever it is. Look at the ways in which you touch power and use those roles. Those three things going from inside you to out in the
Speaker 1
world.

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