Record-breaking temperatures stretched across the United States this summer. Severe storms and catastrophic floods are causing mass devastation around the world. Signs of the changing climate have become impossible to ignore.
Teenagers are taking it all in.
Amid the general mental health crisis among youth, the specific issue of climate anxiety is surging. A nationally representative EdWeek Research Center survey found that 37 percent of teenagers feel anxious when they think about climate change and its effects, and more than a third feel afraid. Many also said they feel helpless and overwhelmed.
鈥淚 feel like generally there鈥檚 a lot of hopelessness among people my age,鈥� said Croix Hill, a 16-year-old junior at Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans. 鈥淲hen talking about it, people are just kind of like, 鈥榃ell, whatever. We鈥檙e not even gonna have a planet in 50 years, so it doesn鈥檛 even matter.鈥欌��
The consequences of climate-related distress are profound for youth. The fear of climate change is influencing their decisions about where to attend college, whether to stay in their hometowns as adults, and even whether to have children. In some cases, these feelings can adversely affect young people鈥檚 ability to function on a daily basis, experts say.
What is 鈥榗limate anxiety鈥�?
The term climate anxiety encompasses all the difficult emotions鈥攁nxiety, fear, sadness, grief, anger, helplessness, powerlessness, and guilt鈥攖hat people can experience when confronting the climate crisis, said Britt Wray, a human and planetary health postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine , Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in the Climate Crisis.
While climate anxiety is present in people of all ages, Wray said, it鈥檚 . She鈥檚 seen climate anxiety in high schoolers, middle schoolers, and even children as young as 8.
Yet experts warn that school counselors or teachers aren鈥檛 prepared to help students emotionally grapple with the climate crisis鈥攕omething that both social-emotional and climate advocates are hoping to change. Climate change education is spotty and limited across the country, and many teachers don鈥檛 receive training or support to teach the science fully and accurately鈥攖o say nothing of its social-emotional toll.
鈥淭his is an existential human crisis that I think teachers are not prepared to address,鈥� said Chelsey Goddard, a vice president at the Education Development Center who leads the global nonprofit鈥檚 health, mental health, and behavioral health work in the United States. 鈥淛ust to address climate change in the context of science [isn鈥檛] addressing the social-emotional and social science aspect of this crisis.鈥�
I feel like generally there鈥檚 a lot of hopelessness among people my age.
Climate anxiety isn鈥檛 a clinical mental disorder; rather, the growing consensus in the field is that it鈥檚 a natural response to a real and existential threat, Wray said.
The vast majority of scientists agree that climate change is driven by human activity and, if left unchecked, will lead to disastrous consequences, such as extreme heat and more severe storms that displace millions from their homes.
鈥淸The anxiety] can be really hard to deal with because of the intensity of the climate crisis, and the fact that solutions for this crisis aren鈥檛 reconcilable by any individual,鈥� Wray said. 鈥淭here can be a bit of a trapping in the anxiety that occurs when a person feels like they aren鈥檛 in control and aren鈥檛 able to address the threat by finding the right solution for it.鈥�
Teenagers say they feel anxious, afraid, and helpless
The EdWeek survey, conducted in October, presented teenagers a list of 11 emotions鈥攔anging from angry to optimistic to uninterested鈥攁nd asked them to select all that apply when they think about climate change and its effects. The top response? 鈥淎nxious,鈥� followed closely by 鈥渁fraid鈥� and 鈥渉elpless.鈥�
Just 17 percent of the teenagers, who ranged in age from 14 to 18, said they felt optimistic. Only 8 percent said they were unconcerned.
Croix has lived in New Orleans since she was 2. The city is home, but the signs of climate change are everywhere鈥攆rom remnants of debris from Hurricane Ida, which ravaged the city in 2021, to the wafting smell of , which are regularly set to boost the health of wetlands and reduce the sea level rise that鈥檚 contributing to the disappearance of Louisiana鈥檚 coastline.
She鈥檚 also painfully aware of the oft-cited threat that New Orleans could be underwater in the coming decades as sea levels rise. As Croix considers where to apply to colleges, she increasingly feels like New Orleans won鈥檛 be where she ends up.
鈥淭he increase in hurricanes and detrimental tropical storms that we鈥檝e been experiencing definitely influences the decision that I鈥檓 making as far as college and my plans, because I don鈥檛 know if that鈥檚 something I want to have to deal with,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 love New Orleans, it鈥檚 my city, but I just don鈥檛 know if ... evacuating every single year, and it getting worse and worse, is something I can deal with.鈥�
Croix isn鈥檛 alone in that calculus: A fifth of teenagers said the threat of climate change has impacted the location of where they鈥檇 prefer to attend college, and 37 percent said it鈥檚 affected where they want to live as an adult, according to the EdWeek survey.
鈥淚 feel like the more south you go, the hotter it gets,鈥� said Ocean Bardwell-Jones, a 17-year-old senior at Waiakea High School in Hilo, Hawaii. 鈥淕iven that I want to be a lawyer, I would not want to wear a suit all the time in a hot environment. That would be awful.鈥�
Ocean and his classmate Alexander Tuson feel like they鈥檙e in a bubble in their corner of Hawaii, with its lush rainforests and waterfalls. But the threat of climate change still scares them.
鈥淚t feels kind of safe here, but we read all the articles about the giant floods in Pakistan鈥攊t鈥檚 intimidating,鈥� said Alexander, who鈥檚 18. And he鈥檚 noticed signs of environmental distress around him.
鈥湴粘蟊鸢疴�檚 no coral anymore,鈥� Alexander said. 鈥淭here are some beaches close to here, and there used to be a lot of coral there, and it鈥檚 kind of a dull color right now. 鈥� I鈥檝e never seen really bright-colored coral, and I think there used to be.鈥� (Coral loses its color as a result of pollutants in the water or rising sea temperatures.)
Meanwhile, a quarter of teenagers said the threat of climate change has affected whether they want to have children, the EdWeek survey found.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know anybody my age who鈥檚 like, 鈥榊eah, I want to have kids,鈥欌�� said Jia Sharma-Chaube, a 15-year-old junior, also at Benjamin Franklin in New Orleans. 鈥淚 think the idea that it鈥檚 just a natural course鈥攜ou鈥檙e going to get to grow up and get married and have a good job and get a house and have kids鈥攖hat鈥檚 becoming less and less of a realistic option for people my age.鈥�
She added: 鈥淚 love kids, but like鈥擨 don鈥檛 know, I just wouldn鈥檛 feel comfortable with that, I guess.鈥�
The EdWeek data bolsters what other researchers have found: A global study of 10,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 because of the climate crisis.
鈥淲hen I talk to young people, 鈥� even though they鈥檙e not at all in a place to be thinking about who they might have kids with and all the rest of it, they鈥檙e so stressed out about their future that they don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 fair or responsible to imagine putting another person in that situation as it gets worse,鈥� Wray said.
Educators can help students manage their climate anxiety
Students who are wrestling with climate anxiety need to feel heard and understood, experts say. It can help to have 鈥減eople with whom you can dwell on these emotions and explore them without fear of someone minimizing them or brushing the distress off as catastrophic thinking,鈥� Wray said.
But often, teenagers say they don鈥檛 receive that type of validation from adults in their lives.
鈥淢y friends are like, 鈥極h, I talked to my mom, and I鈥檓 like, 鈥楾he planet is going to be dead by 2050,鈥� and she鈥檚 like, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 what they鈥檝e been saying since I was a kid, and it hasn鈥檛 died yet!鈥欌�� Jia said. 鈥淚t feels kind of like, dismissive.鈥�
I don鈥檛 know anybody my age who鈥檚 like, 鈥榊eah, I want to have kids.'
罢丑别谤别鈥檚 for mental health professionals to be trained to treat climate anxiety. And some universities are in the initial stages of starting to offer climate stress therapy for students, .
But so far, this conversation has been largely missing from K-12 schools, where there are already not enough school counselors to meet young people鈥檚 growing mental health needs, experts say.
While the National Association of School Psychologists to support efforts to reduce the harmful effects of climate change on children, tackling climate anxiety hasn鈥檛 been at the forefront of the group鈥檚 priorities, said Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach, the director of policy and advocacy for the group.
鈥淭his is an issue that students are paying attention to, 鈥� [but] I wouldn鈥檛 say that it鈥檚 necessarily rising to the top of things we hear,鈥� she said, citing other mental health challenges for young people that have been exacerbated since the pandemic.
Plus, targeted interventions for climate anxiety, especially in high school or middle school students, are still in a nascent phase of study, said Lian Zeitz, the co-founder and director of programs for the Climate Mental Health Network, a nonprofit funded by the Global Fund for Mental Health.
鈥淲hat does it mean for a generation of young people to be experiencing such existential dread?鈥� he said. 鈥淗ow do we build tools and resources that promote resilience and climate-related action and social connection鈥攖hings that serve as antidotes to the negative effects of that existential dread, which can be despair and apathy and inaction and maybe isolation, [which can] become depression.鈥�
The Climate Mental Health Network is working with partners to develop resources for middle school teachers to incorporate social-emotional learning practices into science lessons and discussions on climate change. It plans to pilot these resources next school year.
Teachers will need support and self-care while having these conversations, Zeitz added: 鈥淚t isn鈥檛 easy navigating existential conversations with young people or kids that are saying they don鈥檛 want to have babies because the climate is ending and everything鈥檚 on fire.鈥�
Climate anxiety can be incorporated into districts鈥� SEL work, experts say
Despite schools鈥� emphasis on social-emotional competencies and wellbeing, climate anxiety generally hasn鈥檛 been a part of that work, said Shai Fuxman, a senior research scientist at the Education Development Center, which works with districts across the country on their SEL needs.
鈥淭he connection between that and climate change and climate anxiety hasn鈥檛 been made, but it鈥檚 not a difficult link to make,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he skills that we鈥檙e already teaching鈥攁round self-empowerment, managing emotions, developing goals and setting goals and achieving goals鈥攖hose are all skills that can easily be applied to the conversations that teachers are having with students around climate change.鈥�
Experts say that teachers should foster a sense of agency and self-efficacy among students when they discuss climate change. While climate change is largely driven by corporations, individuals can still take action鈥攁nd more than half of the teenagers who responded to the EdWeek survey said they wanted to learn in school what they could personally do to lessen the effects of climate change. About a quarter said when they think of climate change, they feel motivated.
Fuxman said the climate crisis is an opportunity for educators to teach about collective action and working with others toward a common goal.
鈥淣ot only will it help address climate change, but it鈥檚 a good skill for them to have anyway鈥攖o feel a part of something bigger can actually help build self-esteem,鈥� he said. 鈥淟ike, 鈥業鈥檓 part of the movement and part of something that is happening to save our planet.鈥� I think it can be restoring, too, from a mental health perspective.鈥�
While teenage activism around climate change often makes headlines, few survey respondents said they鈥檝e attended climate demonstrations or contacted elected officials in the past two years. Thirty-seven percent of teenagers say they haven鈥檛 taken any actions related to climate change during that time period.
鈥淚 think a lot of kids are frozen鈥攖hey either want to push it out of their minds and not think about it, or they鈥檙e frozen,鈥� said Goddard, of the EDC. 鈥淧eople will say, 鈥極h, kids just don鈥檛 care,鈥� or, 鈥楲ook at these really wonderful kids out there being activists,鈥� but there鈥檚 this whole group in the middle that I think often just feels like they鈥檙e stuck.鈥�
The facts of climate change are overwhelming, but Goddard said it can help for teenagers to work toward change in their own community, such as petitioning school officials to install solar panels on buildings.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 say, 鈥業鈥檓 gonna change the world.鈥� You have to break off a piece of it,鈥� she said.
Schools may have to navigate politically tricky waters
One potential barrier to schools鈥� helping with the social-emotional toll of the climate crisis? Politics.
While most American adults believe in human-driven climate change, more Republicans than Democrats , and Democrats , surveys show.
Even the term social-emotional learning has drawn the ire of some conservatives, who fear it is teaching their children values they don鈥檛 approve of.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really thinking about how we get resources to people in a range of contexts,鈥� said Zeitz, of the Climate Mental Health Network. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have all the answers about how to do that, but it鈥檚 been clear for us鈥攊f we鈥檙e really trying to reach more young people and more school systems, we鈥檒l just have to be adaptive to how certain things are framed based on education legislation.鈥�
This work also may require a mindset shift among the adults in school buildings, said Wray, the author of Generation Dread. For one thing, adults will have to come to terms with the fact that young people have a different mindset than they did about their futures.
鈥淗ave compassion for that and get curious about really trying to understand the granularity of what that climate anxiety feels like鈥攈ow it can make a young person feel futureless and abandoned by older generations, which is profound psychological distress that can tear away at the social underpinnings of wellbeing,鈥� Wray said.
After all, climate anxiety can lead to teenagers feeling unmotivated, distracted, and in particularly severe cases, depressed or even suicidal, Wray said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a serious issue that demands serious consideration and support.鈥�
