Credit: Thomson Reuters Foundation

LONDON — As climate change drives a surge in deadly disasters – and harsh scientific warnings of worse to come – young people are struggling with growing “eco-anxiety” about the future of the planet and their own lives, psychologists say in a new study.

But their feelings of anger, fear and powerlessness arise less from the environmental damage itself than the unwillingness of adults to stop it, despite the availability of solutions and overwhelming evidence of the risks, the research finds.

“Eco-anxiety is a sign of mental health, an entirely appropriate response to what’s going on,” said Caroline Hickman, a psychotherapist and lead author of an international study set to be published in the medical journal The Lancet.

Luisa Neubauer, a German climate campaigner with the Fridays for Future students’ movement, said inaction by world leaders on global warming “is too much to handle, too much to accept”.

“What does it mean for young people to see the world fall apart while we have solutions at hand, while we know how to stop it? Government is pushing us in […]

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