Climate Anxiety: Feeling Our Way Towards Climate Solutions

In this episode of Climate Decoded, we unpack climate anxiety. Climate anxiety is one common term, but there are a lot of different names — ecological grief, eco-anxiety, solastalgia. The effect climate change has on your emotions varies based on a lot of factors. Your age, your income, any risks you’re facing — all that makes a difference. Climate justice — or rather, injustice — also plays a role. Global North countries produce the vast majority of carbon emissions, but Global South countries often suffer the most severe impacts of climate change. John Aruta, an associate professor of psychology at De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines, offers perspective as a psychology researcher in one of the countries hardest hit by both climate and climate anxiety. He also explains how the language used to talk about climate anxiety can make or break the support people can get. Skye Barrow speaks as a young person with both general anxiety and climate anxiety finding hope through action. Ayomide Olude, project manager of the Nigeria-based Eco-Anxiety Africa Project, explores some of the many emotions that can stem from eco-anxiety, as well as some of the big-picture changes needed to tackle climate anxiety. And Thomas Doherty, an Oregon-based psychologist, breaks down actionable techniques for working through climate anxiety. Find resources mentioned in the episode and more at www.climatedecoded.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.