Indian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Studies (IJMRS)

The Psychological Effects of Climate Change Awareness on Youth Activism and Anxiety

Climate change is a highly publicized world problem of the 21 st century and its implications have become more apparent due to the increasing degrees of temperature rise, severe weather conditions, and environmental deterioration. Climate-related communication in both traditional and digital channels has caused the given crisis to be practically impossible to miss, at least, among the younger generations. The more people do learn about it the more there is a rush to do something about it. As such, there has been an extreme increase in youth climate activism. Leaders like Greta Thunberg and groups like Fridays for Future have been able to mobilize millions of youth around the globe to petition government officials and make them take action now. Besides drawing the attention to the potential of young people to affect social change, these movements have helped to attract the awareness of the emotional burden that the climate crisis can impose on the minds of the young people.