Let’s stop terrifying young people about the future of the planet
Climate fears are overwhelming many people, young and old. Let’s make sure to share reasons for hope too.
Photo by Tobias Rademacher on Unsplash
I met a woman a few years back who confessed to being suicidal about climate change. “What reason is there to live, if earth’s future is so dire?”
I’ve also met more than one person deciding against having children and raising a family, in large part due to their overwhelming fears of what their children’s future would be on a warming planet.
Maybe you’ve run into these people too. Maybe you are one of those people?
However sincere and earnest these concerns are about the important health of our Mother Earth, many sensitive souls are missing something important about this present moment and reasons for hope in the future.
You can’t blame any of these people for missing evidence for hope, though. All you have to do is glance over a few of the many dire headlines in recent years to get swept away in some serious panic and despair. Such as:
“Final call to save the world from ‘climate catastrophe’” (BBC, 2018)
“Planet has only until 2030 to stem catastrophic climate change, experts warn" (CNN, 2018)
“Doomsday report warns of apocalyptic climate change” (Daily Mail, 2021)
“Nowhere is safe: warning on escalating climate crisis” (The Guardian, 2021)
However frightening such headlines can be to grown adults reading them, we shouldn’t be surprised when some young people start losing hope entirely.
A 2021 Lancet survey of 10,000 people ages 16 to 25 found a remarkable 56 percent agreeing with the statement that “humanity is doomed” - with more than half reporting feeling sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless and guilty, 59% of participants saying they were “extremely worried” and a full 75% admitting that climate change leaves them seeing the future as “frightening.”
None of this should surprise us, once again, given what these young people are hearing regularly in the news. Vijay Jayaraj, a research associate at the CO2 Coalition, observes that “each scorching summer is touted as further evidence of an impending climate catastrophe with little room for nuance or objective analysis.”
This is the point at which debates can erupt between those insistent that the threat of climate change has been overblown and others convinced we are still understating the true dangers. The latter will come to the fight armed with the latest studies proving the debate should be over, while the former is ready with a list of serious flaws in these same studies, along with arguments as to why climate fluctuations are normative.
This is a critically important conversation. And it’s a shame it can’t happen more in the open - with the support of our institutions dedicated to the pursuit of truth.
This kind of open exploration of different arguments used to be what our universities and newspapers did best. But that has changed. And much like disagreements during the pandemic, the lack of that space makes grasping the whole truth very difficult.
The resulting confusion, frustration and uncertainty can make the anxiety and despair even worse for people swept away in the panic. In the meanwhile, with sky high levels of anxiety and despair about climate mounting further all around us - especially among young people - there are at least a few things that stand a chance at lowering the temperature (at least emotionally):
1. Parents don’t lose your cool. Dr. Karen Bartsch, a professor at the University of Wyoming, reminded parents in a recent interview about the decades of research demonstrating how young people filter their reactions to the world through the eyes of their parents: “If parents are all very disturbed and emotional about climate change and children observe this, young children will often catch that emotional reaction.”
Yet some continue to argue that children should see their parents panicking and sorrowing about what is taking place environmentally. Another scholar, Dr. Gerald Kutney, argues precisely this, stating, “The problem is that death and destruction from climate change is real, and it’s going to get worse.”
This is where climate activists might take some lessons from Christian parents, who likewise see really difficult days ahead for the world - but are successful (more often than not) at cultivating hope and cheer in their homes.
Which brings me to a second recommendation.
2. Cultivate faith that we are not alone. Children and adults alike are naturally going to be more frightened about any kind of threat to their health or survival if they grow up believing that human beings are on their own in the universe (I’m not talking about aliens here). In the middle of the COVID pandemic’s early anxieties, Asian-American Pastor Francis Chan shared in a video, “I don’t know about you - but I’ve never appreciated and loved being a follower of Jesus Christ than right now.”
That security and lack of fear was rooted, like so many other millions of Christians over the centuries, in the knowledge that Christ had conquered the grave - which gave the Lord special authority to encourage us all to “fear not” as he repeatedly does in scripture.
Right after prophesying about the “distress of nations” in the last days, alongside “perplexity” and “hearts failing them for fear,” Jesus said, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
Even if you don’t yet share a Christian view of the world, you can still gain something from their example of hope and confidence in the face of unique dangers all around us.
3. Acknowledge there is a lot more to learn. I was facilitating a student dialogue once involving a young climate activist and several others less convinced. This convicted student prefaced the conversation stating, “if you understood the science as much as I did, you would realize…”
It’s precisely that kind of absolutism that can chill any conversation - about anything. Near the end of the semester, that same student was asked by other classmates why he had never asked a question about their own perspectives.
“I have no questions for you,” he said - a bit embarrassed to admit that publicly.
No one likes a know-it-all. And the quickest way to kill any conversation is to insist that there is nothing more to be understood about a topic of interest. After all, without a modicum of curiosity and humility, there really isn’t much to talk about.
4. Insist on space for different perspectives. In my marriage, one of our relationship ground rules is that “even and especially when one of us feels strongly about something, it’s important for there to be space for the other person to disagree. By the same token, even - and perhaps especially - when large swaths of people are terrified or angry about something, we ought to do our best to make space for people to have different views.
Including about climate. Even with understandable passion for our earth’s environment and the strong statements from many scientists about climate change, it still remains a very scientific thing to be willing to hold yourself open to alternative views and possibilities. If we forgot that on many levels during the pandemic, let’s try to remember that again for current and future catastrophes.
Let’s hope that these disagreements can come out in the open, rather than whispered in corners - and that our country can encourage and foster healthy public debate (at universities, newspapers and beyond) where we can all seek truth together about climate and many other important questions.
Alongside the example of mature adults and parents, and reminders for reasons to keep faith and stay hopeful, this kind of a healthy public discourse could be one of the most underappreciated remedies for fears and despairs in our day.