Right now is a time to be celebrating progress in the fight against climate change.
This week, American scientists made a historical breakthrough in reproducing nuclear fusion — a reaction with the potential to unlock cheap, clean and unlimited energy.
But climate catastrophizers are so paralyzed by their worries that they might not even notice.
So-called “eco-anxiety” is an issue so prevalent that PBS Newshour recently hosted climate psychology therapist Leslie Davenport to discuss how to fight it.
“It can certainly grow into something that interferes with functioning in daily life, keeps you awake at night, gets in the way of enjoying life, becomes really the predominant concern,” Davenport said.
She cataloged an array of symptoms, including “high levels of physiological distress, racing hearts and intrusive thoughts.”
According to the upcoming book “The Weight of Nature” by Clayton Page Aldern, it’s not just eco-anxiety haunting people. There is a whole host of new mental conditions related to climate change, including climate grief, environmental melancholia and pre-traumatic stress disorder.
Davenport’s website notes that her clinic is so overrun with demand that she isn’t accepting new clients. She told PBS the past five years have seen “a big leap” in demand that’s fueled by young people.
A recent survey of 16 to 25-year-olds found that two in three say climate change makes them feel sad and afraid. And a staggering 45% report worries about climate interrupt their daily lives.
As a Gen Zer myself, I once felt the same way.
I recall my stomach dropping and palms sweating during science classes throughout middle and high school, where I was effectively taught that climate change has reached a point of no return. It felt like the world is over, everything is set in stone — we’re all doomed.
My generation is growing up crippled by a paralyzing fear, as tweens and teens around the world are being told that they’re living in end times.
On TikTok, the hashtag #EcoAnxiety has racked up 48.5 million views.
Popular creators post hair-on-fire claims about imminent doom, like TikToker Coyote Annie who pulled in half a million likes on a video claiming she had an hour-long panic attack over climate change.
“This is the scene of ‘The Titanic’ where they have hit the iceberg,” she said. “If this video hasn’t scared you enough, do a little homework.”
TikTok comments are full of despair — and declarations that “WE ARE DYING.”
“It feels like the government is killing us and our future children, and I honestly cry about it nearly every day,” TikTok user jessiewickham said.
Anissa_riviere recalled: “I remember being told, ‘Your generation will have to fix the world’ when I was 6 in 2001. How could anyone have avoided climate anxiety?”
Kaylamint3 claimed they’ve had “literally crippling” climate anxiety since the third grade.
And the saddest comment of all, from ocollison1: “Every time I think about my future, I get a feeling of dread and anticipation because I simply don’t think we’re going to survive that long.”
Between social media and a 24/7 feed of alarmist headlines on their cell phones, Gen Z has grown up mired in apocalyptic climate dread.
Greta Thunberg — the poster face of climate alarmism — made a name for herself by claiming world leaders have “stolen her dreams” and that “we are in the beginning of a mass extinction.”
AOC famously declared that the world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change … four years ago.
Kamala Harris even recently addressed climate anxiety during an event at Northfield High School in Colorado — and encouraged it by saying, “The clock is not just ticking; it is banging.”
But anyone genuinely invested in a better future should quit sending young people into doom spirals.
Zoomers are going to have to take the issue of climate change head-on and come up with solutions — not curl up into a ball and cry about their “eco-anxiety.”
Climate alarmism disempowers young people who should be invigorated by the fact that they’re living through a period of remarkable breakthroughs.
Elon Musk made electric vehicles cool. Economic growth is becoming less dependent on fossil fuels. And scientists are literally rewriting the laws of nuclear energy.
Our only hope for a greener future is a generation of inspired innovators, not eco-anxious crybabies.
It’s time for the climate doom’s day rhetoric to end — for the sake of Gen Z’s mental health, and for the sake of the planet, too.
