The climate crisis is taking a growing toll on the mental health of children and young people, experts have warned, reports The Guardian.
Public Health reports
Increased levels of “eco-anxiety” — a long-term fear of environmental disaster – were likely to be underestimated, causing long-term harm to many.
Mala Rao and Richard Powell of Imperial College London’s Department of Primary Care and Public Health wrote in the British Medical Journal that eco-anxiety “risks aggravating health and socioeconomic inequities between those more or less prone to these psychological repercussions.”
Even though eco-anxiety is not yet recognized as a diagnosable disorder, they claim that awareness of it and its complicated psychological impacts are growing, as is its “disproportionate” influence on children and young people.
Psychological Implications
They cited a 2020 poll of child psychiatrists in England, which revealed that more than half of children and young people (57 percent) are concerned about the climate issue and the state of the environment.
The psychological implications of climate change were “profoundly harming enormous numbers of these young people around the world,” according to a new international assessment of climate anxiety in young people aged 16 to 25.
“Recognize the challenges ahead, the need to act now, and the dedication necessary to establish a route to a better and healthier future, leaving no one behind,” Rao and Powell said.
The UN states
According to the UN, carbon emissions are anticipated to climb by 16 percent by 2030, exceeding the globally agreed limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
According to Rao and Powell, it is critical to investigate what may be done to reduce rising levels of climate fear.
“The best way to increase optimism and hope among the environmentally concerned young and old is to ensure that they have access to the best and most credible information on climate mitigation and adaptation,” they said. “In particular, information on how they can strengthen their ties to nature, make greener choices on a personal level, and join forces with like-minded communities and organizations.”
Theresa’s Liberal Solutions
Separately, recent research published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) reveals that by modifying unhealthy behavior, we can achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
According to Theresa Marteau of the University of Cambridge, technical progress alone will not suffice.
She claims that eating a plant-based diet and traveling by a combination of walking, cycling, and public transportation will significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve health.
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Source: The Guardian
