“Weathering the Storm”: Understanding Climate Anxiety and Coping in Young People

Crandon, Tara, “Weathering the Storm”: Understanding Climate Anxiety and Coping in Young People

Winner - University of Queensland VYT local programme (2023)

Artwork and animations in this video were hand-drawn and painted, by Tara Crandon.

If you’ve ever felt anxious about climate change, you’ve felt climate anxiety. Research shows that people around the world are feeling anxious about climate change, and young people are especially affected. Anxiety can help us prepare and respond to threats, but it can also take over and overwhelm us.

I study climate anxiety in young people and I’ve been surveying young people around Australia to identify what strengthens or weakens their ability to cope. I look at their feelings of climate anxiety, how they cope, and see if that coping is linked to things like experiencing a natural disaster, learning about climate change at school, or how their parents might talk about climate change. So that one day we can know what kind of support might help young people engage in climate change in ways that allow their wellbeing to bloom.