Students' emotional response to climate change

Successful environmental education (EE) increases knowledge of climate change (CC), however little attention has been paid to the emotional impact of this knowledge. In this article, the author coins the phrase learning to live-with climate change, which is an understanding of the interconnectedness of all things, including how individuals are enmeshed with both climate change causes and impacts. This process of learning to live-with is holistic and goes beyond simply gaining knowledge about climate change or promoting behavior change. Learning to live-with requires an understanding that humans are interconnected with living and non-living components of the environment. The author believes the affective dimension (i.e., emotional impact) has been neglected in climate change education, and that it could be a missing link to collectively building and reimagining a sustainable world. Affective adaptation is an idea that includes individual emotional resilience but also social support structures and caring for others. The author argues that affective adaptation should be central to EE and efforts to address climate change. This study explores the emotional experiences of undergraduate students in order to highlight the need for climate change education to address emotional needs and be reframed as “care work.”

This research took place at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia in 2015. The researcher tutored an undergraduate course called Climate Change Responses (CCR15), a 12-week class that evaluated various elements of CC such as the scientific, socioeconomic, cultural, and ecological aspects. All of the participants in the study were pursuing a Bachelor of Environment and Society. Using literature review of previous research and interactions with students enrolled in the course, the researcher identified the six most common emotions that students experienced while enrolled in CCR15.

The six common feelings identified were anxiety, frustration, overwhelmed, grief, guilt, and hope. Each of these are described below.

Anxiety: The researcher found that anxiety was often associated with CC because of the uncertainty about the future. For example, some students expressed they primarily felt anxiety because the future was difficult to plan and be prepared for under this uncertainty.

Frustration: The researcher found that frustration occurs when students are challenged by barriers and unable to achieve their objectives. For example, students indicated they felt disempowerment when trying to respond to CC issues and that they were unable to reach their goals, which resulted in the feeling of frustration. Further, the researcher hypothesized that this feeling stems from the idea that CC is a collective action problem, which requires action from people around the world. Many students expressed their frustration in that they did not trust others to do their part. However, the researcher argued that in some cases, frustration among a group of motivated individuals can inspire change.

Overwhelmed: The researcher found that the feeling of being overwhelmed emerges when students realize the large scale—both time and space—of CC issues. For example, students mentioned the spatial scale of CC, specifically how they felt overwhelmed that their actions in Australia could have negative impacts on the global climate and may affect people all over the world.

Guilt: The researcher found that guilt occurs when students create a connection between their lives and others, and how their lives may directly impact CC. For example, students mentioned feeling guilty about living in a first would country and having access to food, water, and electricity while others in developing countries struggle to find enough food for a day. One student expressed guilt over western society as a whole, stating that people overconsume and are wasteful. This feeling of guilt is important because previous research suggests that instilling feelings of guilt may encourage motivation; consequently, some CC education approaches the use guilt as a motivator for students to adopt pro-environmental behaviors.

Grief: The researcher identified grief as a characteristic response to encountering CC. For example, students felt emotionally attached to the fate of the planet. The researcher argued that grief helps identify a relationship between human and CC because it encourages humans to understand the value of something that may be lost, such as an endangered species.

Hope: The researcher identified hope as closely linked to grief. For example, students stated that while learning about CC they felt a wide range of emotions, much of the class discussion inspired hope. In addition, students highlighted the feeling of camaraderie among the class, knowing that each person was willing to play a role in CC mitigation. The researcher suggested that mourning and hope are complementary responses to CC and emphasized that without the feeling of grief and the motivation to respond to CC, humans may not feel hope about positive change in the future.

This study is not a traditional empirical study in which data is gathered, analyzed, and conclusions are derived about participants. Rather, the author's experiences informed thinking about the affective impact of environmental and climate change education. Additional research is needed to further explore these emotional impacts and possible avenues to learning to live-with climate change.

The researcher recommends that EE and CC education should include a consideration of emotions associated with CC response. However, teaching affective adaptation is challenging and must include both the human and natural worlds, and no defined path exists. Rather, educators should implement practices, such as teaching self-care and fostering relationships among students, so that they learn to cope with their emotional responses to climate change. Ultimately, the author hopes this will lead to a more supportive approach to engaging people with climate change.