Climate Anxiety Isn’t a ‘Snowflake’ Proposition
It is a real and shared belief that keeps many Americans awake in fear at night. By Readers Aug. 13, 2023 11:56 am ET An aerial view of a flooded area in eastern Kentucky, July 30, 2022. Photo: -/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Allysia Finley’s assertion that climate anxiety is a product of leftist ideology (“Climate Change Obsession Is a Real Mental Disorder,” Life Science, July 31) does a disservice to Americans’ legitimate fears about climate change and its effects. It’s unimaginable to think that political ideology was on the minds of Amber Smith and Riley Noble as they watched their four young children being swept to their deaths during historic flooding in Kentucky a year ago. Climate anxiety isn’t a “snowflake” proposition. It is a real and shared belief that keeps many Americans awa
An aerial view of a flooded area in eastern Kentucky, July 30, 2022.
Photo: -/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Allysia Finley’s assertion that climate anxiety is a product of leftist ideology (“Climate Change Obsession Is a Real Mental Disorder,” Life Science, July 31) does a disservice to Americans’ legitimate fears about climate change and its effects. It’s unimaginable to think that political ideology was on the minds of Amber Smith and Riley Noble as they watched their four young children being swept to their deaths during historic flooding in Kentucky a year ago.
Climate anxiety isn’t a “snowflake” proposition. It is a real and shared belief that keeps many Americans awake in fear at night. They are the farmers who lose thousands of acres of crops because of flooding or extreme heat, and the small-business owners whose dreams are destroyed by wildfires.
Politicizing climate anxiety is dangerous to millions of people. Climate change has already caused “mass mortality events,” reports the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which finds that “deep, rapid, and sustained” reduction of heat-trapping greenhouse gases is required to ensure a livable and sustainable future for all.
Leslie Davenport and Barbara Easterlin
San Francisco
Ms. Davenport and Ms. Easterlin lead the climate psychology certificate program at the California Institute of Integral Studies.
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