Survey of young people aged 16-25 from all US states shows concerns across political spectrum

Survey of young people aged 16-25 from all US states shows concerns across political spectrum

The overwhelming majority of young Americans worry about the climate crisis, and more than half say their concerns about the environment will affect where they decide to live and whether to have children, new research finds.

The study comes just weeks after back-to-back hurricanes, Helene and Milton, pummeled the south-eastern US. Flooding from Helene caused more than 600 miles of destruction, from Florida’s west coast to the mountains of North Carolina, while Milton raked across the Florida peninsula less than two weeks later.

“One of the most striking findings of the survey was that this was across the political spectrum,” said the lead author, Eric Lewandowski, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. “There was no state sample where the endorsement of climate anxiety came in less than 75%.”

The study was published in the Lancet Planetary Health, and follows a 2021 study covering 10 countries. Both the previous and current study were paid for by Avaaz, an advocacy group.

  • @capital_sniff
    2•1 month ago

    I always try and take advantage of double sided printing when it is available. And my partner and I both drive reasonable vehicles and not oversized gas guzzlers.

    As far as addressing the boomer problem, I’ve been just waiting for them to age out as the ones I know don’t respond well to logical or rational arguments. The boomers I know that are supporting Trump lack critical thinking skills and struggle with abstract thinking. This has made them easy prey for conservative media that for one seeks to short circuit any higher order thinking by triggering fear responses in their viewers.

    If I had three wishes, I’d use one to try and fix this problem by massively expanding our education system. We are saddled with an antiquated system designed for a time when factory workers were needed and scheduling had to be done around farm labor availability. So I live in a progressive city and our state is finally doing free school meals. How insane that in 2024 there’s a need for free meals in a rather rich country and also a good chunk of our population are opposed to giving out free food.