Heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, floods and hurricanes increasingly feature in people’s lives and are predicted to become more frequent and intense in the coming decades. These events are having a significant yet often overlooked psychological impact not only on those directly affected by such catastrophes, but also on those who expect to be affected by them in the future.
Little more than a decade ago, researchers started to note that climate change will have a deep psychological impact and that people will be exposed in different ways. Since then new terms have emerged. These include climate change anxiety, or eco-anxiety, which is experienced by those, often young, people overwhelmed with anger or anxiety and feeling that they have no control over the planet’s future.
