Eco-anxiety - what have we done and what can we do?
This post was written by a student. It has not been fact checked or edited.
what is it? How did it come about?
In my opinion eco-anxiety has became prominent in the modern day because climate change is worsening. Eco-anxiety is the chronic fear of environmental problems that stems from over-observing the impact climate change has. It surfaced when major effects were hitting harder, negatively effecting the earth and atmosphere. Scientific research has revealed that by 2050 the effects of climate change will be irreversible if we do not start changing now, this is most likely the root cause of eco-anxiety.
Climate change? the forms and how it effects eco-anxiety.
According to research, pollution is the release of harmful, toxic substances into the environment. This is often linked to vehicles. To reduce pollution from transportation we can take many precautions such as using public transportation or cycling/walking. Also using electric cars would help as they are eco-friendly as they do not emit harmful gases. Reducing our acceleration/speed by approximately 5-10mph will accumulate (take into account that most participate ) and improve the fuel economy by an average of 7-14% which in my opinion is substantial.
Deforestation- Trees are a carbon sink meaning they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. The process of cutting down trees releases the carbon stored, adding more to the atmosphere. The action of planting trees and cutting less down will mean more of the co2 we release from our everyday emissions will be absorbed so less is added to the atmosphere.
Prevention of climate change. What can we do to help and how is eco-anxiety effecting us?
In my opinion there are many actions we can do to help combat effects of climate change, such as driving electric vehicles or walking/cycling to places closer to us, implementing renewable energy sources and even taking steps to lower our energy consumption by reducing our heating or using energy efficient led bulbs. However many people find that these tasks are overwhelming as the scale of climate change is ginormous. Many are discouraged from taking actions as climate change is over-exaggerated and scaled up phenomenally that people lose hope/become unable to digest/comprehend the actions in the short term making a difference. Worrying about climate change makes people unable to do something to make a difference meaning the effect won't be as large. Feeling discouraged means that there will be less actions causing a smaller change.