Welcome to Locally Sourced, a biweekly Covering Climate Now newsletter for journalists working to localize the climate story. Share this newsletter with colleagues and journalism students interested in localizing the climate story. Vea la versión en español de “Fuentes Locales.”
Story Spark: Climate Anxiety
You’re not the only one worrying after reading the stream of headlines about the latest climate disasters. A recent national study found that 64% of Americans were at least “somewhat worried” about climate change. Over 10% report stronger feelings of hopelessness and nervousness which can be classified as “climate anxiety.”
Climate worry has been steadily increasing since the concept of “solastalgia,” the distress caused by environmental change, was coined in 2003. These fears are not limited to the Western world, as a recent study across 11 countries found that climate anxiety was affecting the daily lives of nearly half of the teens and young adults surveyed.
In addition to general fears of the future, extreme weather events, which are becoming stronger and more frequent due to climate change, often severely impact survivors’ mental health. Research has shown that children are the most at risk for developing traumatic stress after climate disasters.
Stories We Like
- The Los Angeles Times digs into the root (and possible solutions) of climate anxiety in California and across the world.
- In India, Mongabay highlights the mental health ramifications of extreme weather events among urban and rural communities.
- KQED in San Francisco reports on strategies to alleviate climate anxiety by collective action.
- In the wake of Helene’s devastation, the Asheville Citizen Times offers tips for children processing post-disaster trauma.
- “Ripple Effect: Trauma in the Wake of Climate Change,” a documentary produced by Louisiana Public Broadcasting, explores the human toll back-to-back climate disasters have on the body, mind, and spirit.
- In Wisconsin, a so-called “climate haven,” WSAW speaks with a local therapist about how up to 50% of her cases involve climate anxiety.
- WESH in Florida tells the story of one resident still suffering from panic attacks and PTSD one year after facing hurricane Ian.
- As climate change fuels more frequent and stronger storms, NBC5 in Dallas connects with Texans struggling with storm anxiety.
Expert Tips
Britt Wray, PhD, an author and researcher at Stanford University, offers tips to help journalists prepare to report on climate anxiety. The author of Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in the Climate Crisis, Wray writes about coping with the psychological toll of climate change in the newsletter Gen Dread.
Acknowledge in your reporting that climate anxiety is not pathological. Many practitioners and researchers argue that it is appropriate and reasonable to experience some distress and anxiety about the climate crisis, given the severe danger it presents. It’s important to write about climate anxiety with nuance; it’s distinct from generalized anxiety disorder but can overlap with mental health challenges and potentially lead to the onset or worsening of mental health challenges. Climate anxiety presents differently in different people, so journalists should take care not to describe it in a monolithic way.
Terminology in the climate mental health space is currently messy and there are multiple terms to describe an increasingly common cadre of distressing psychological experiences in the face of climate and ecological threats. Climate anxiety, eco-anxiety, climate grief, and solastalgia are just a few of them. Climate distress is the most encompassing term that creates space for multiple difficult emotions (such as anxiety, grief, fear, anger).
Explore how climate anxiety/distress can change behavior. Multiple studies show that climate anxiety is strongly associated with pro-environmental behavior and climate action. In other words, the rise of climate anxiety isn’t limited to a “negative mental health story”, it may also be a crucible for courageous action that the world desperately needs more people to become engaged in.
Climate distress impacts some communities more than others. The most impacted populations include children and young people, women and girls, frontline climate professionals (climate scientists, environmental journalists, green policymakers, etc), first responders, Indigenous Peoples, people with mental illness, those on the frontlines of disaster, farmers/fisherpeople, and in a country like the US, Black and Latino communities.
However, climate anxiety doesn’t discriminate and anyone who understands that their health is tied up with the health of the environment is susceptible to feeling climate anxiety today. There is no real antidote to climate anxiety apart from collective action at the scale that can mitigate further warming, help communities adapt, and protect the health of our environment. However, audiences need to be guided on what they can do to internally strengthen themselves to sit with the distress rather than run from it, notice the insights it has to share, and integrate those experiences for more resilience coping-and-acting.
Helpful Links
Resources for You
For journalists covering climate disasters, seek advice and resources from the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma to properly care for yourself during and after an event.
Climate Central has resources highlighting the link between climate disasters and worsening mental health.
Explore the climate distress resource hub at Unthinkable.earth to find recommendations for a supportive program, group meeting, book, podcast, and much more that may help.
SciLine may be able to connect you with local experts who can offer their expertise on climate change and eco-anxiety.
Find a directory of “climate-aware” therapists and other mental health resources on the Climate Psychology Alliance North America (CPA-NA) website.
Find support for facing the emotional and psychological consequences of the climate crisis on the Climate Psychology Alliance’s website.
Resources to Share with Your Audience:
Science Moms offers expert advice for parents wanting to explain the impacts of climate change to their children.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) has recommendations in English, in Spanish and in ASL for children and families who experience traumatic events.
Join a small group listening and sharing session with Climate Awakening to connect and share with others who are battling climate anxiety.
If you’re experiencing a mental health crisis, reach 24/7, free, and confidential support by calling or texting 988 to reach the 988 Lifeline, known originally as the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, or text MHA to 741741 from anywhere in the US to text with a trained crisis counselor on the Crisis Text Line, in English or Spanish.
Before We Go…
Southeastern US journalists. Join CCNow, in partnership with the Southeast Emmys, for a virtual get-together on October 24 at 1pm US Eastern Time for those covering hurricanes Helene and Milton to exchange experiences, hear tips from experts, and access resources to improve their reporting on extreme weather disasters.
Want more tips on how to localize the climate story? Check out CCNow’s recent webinar, “Telling the Climate Story Locally.”
The Climate Station is a free-of-cost training program from Covering Climate Now that equips local TV station newsrooms in the US, including journalists, producers, and meteorologists, to cover climate news more effectively. For inquiries, please email Elena González at elena[at]coveringclimatenow[dot]org. Or you can apply here.
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