Climate Anxiety: Is Social Media Fuelling the Panic or Raising Awareness

The Climate Shift Podcast, hosted by Sam and Lara, explores the growing emotional impact of the climate crisis, with this episode focusing on climate anxiety.

Through honest conversations, personal stories, and expert insights, Sam and Lara discuss how fear, uncertainty, and eco-anxiety are affecting people today, while also highlighting practical ways to stay informed, hopeful, and motivated to create change.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:05

Welcome to the Climate Shift Podcast. My name is Lara Birles.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

And my name's Sam Thomas.

SPEAKER_02 0:09

And today we're going to be talking about climate anxiety.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Yeah, and the young people's different opinions or views on climate anxiety.

SPEAKER_02 0:17

So climate anxiety is a form of distress and is linked to worries about climate change and environmental damage. There are a lot of different ways young people experience climate anxiety. Yeah. Like to start, I feel like a good place would be social media, the way the social media shares. Sam, you can't look at me like that. I'm sorry. Yeah. Right, yeah. Social media. Social media shares a lot about scary things to do with the climate. Like obviously, we said we spoke a little bit about social media during the last episodes that we did. And about how during COVID a lot of um like you know, posts about more colder climates were experiencing such social media during COVID um shared a lot of posts about how colder climates were going through such severe damage because of climate crisis and how, you know, like temperatures were going up and it was causing a lot of damage. I think that scared a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Yeah, definitely. I think a big one was um COVID, because I remember for when COVID was here, I didn't know COVID was here. And then I just see popping up all over TikTok and Instagram, COVID-19's here, you're gonna die, you're dead, your family members are already dying, and it gives you the worry of what is it? How haven't I already heard about it? And then you realise when you actually look into it that you don't some people were unfortunate enough to pass away from COVID, but not everyone, and social media was just lying.

SPEAKER_02 1:39

Yeah, but I think climate anxiety is like it's a really scary thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Because you're scared to be living on the own, like you know, the planet that you live on. Like, for example, a lot of people started to protest, like, because of you know climate crisis and the way that they were using and like admitting fossil fuels and stuff like that, and people were doing it out of the fact they were scared, yeah, like they were terrified. Like, I know a lot of children when they learn about climate change, it's a very, very scary topic nowadays because there's such a like sufficient amount of you know problems that are just rising in the environment because of you know the climate change, just like scaring people, yeah. Like to be honest, if you were a child in 2020 who'd um randomly just seen a post on social media one day about everybody's gonna die and the world's gonna be destroyed because the climate's going up. Like, would you be terrified?

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Yeah, you would you wouldn't know what to think, you wouldn't you wouldn't know anything, you wouldn't know how to think, you wouldn't know how to act or even feel because well, you don't know anything. You see social a lot of people these they just think uh blah blah blah blah. Oh, how do you know that's real? I've seen it on social media. Not everything on there is real. So sometimes you may be lucky and it is real, but half the time it is just some random man or woman sat there typing away crap.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

So they're like uh there are like a bunch of different symptoms that people experience from like you know the scare of like climate change. So obviously there's like persistent worries about the future of the planet. Like I mean, to be honest, nowadays it's really really it's really hard to tell what our planet's gonna be in like years and years to come. And that's really scary. Like I could never imagine the idea of the future generation having to fight to make our planet a better place because of the way that us humans treat it now. Yeah, like a lot of things are changing, like even it's just it's just like basic things. Like, I know this is really this is a really big one, like fuel prices are going up and it's causing a real inconvenience, and it's it's bad enough for the environment as it is that they're stopping that type of stuff and they're admitting more of it and selling it for like higher pricing. But I know it's like a really really big inconvenience. Like, imagine the future in like years and years to come, and because of how bad fuel prices are gone, like everybody's driving like electric cars. Yeah, see now I could never imagine myself being like that. Like I could never imagine driving a car that's like electric because they're so high, like high on price. Yeah, but I'm not sure whether or not clever, you know, because of the way that fuel prices have changed, like whether or not it's gonna be a like it's gonna be a huge increase in people using like electric cars. Like, do you think the figure's gonna change because of it all?

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Yeah, but I think electric cars, like you said, are definitely coming on an increase. Like my mum drives an electric car, but my dad doesn't, he drives a petrol car. But I think another big thing which is causing people climate anxiety is like you said the fuel because more people are seeing that the fuel's going up or we're running out of fuel, so they just go into the petrol station and there's queues for pff could be hours, long, long time just queuing out of the petrol station, which is then also increasing the fuel prices because of how many how many people are rushing to try and get the fuel.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

So, yeah, which is like which brings me on to the like the next symptom of climate anxiety. People are saying they they feel like helpless and they feel like they've got a lack of control.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

I agree. I think there is a lot of a lack of control because nowadays I feel like one big thing about obviously climate action is protesting. Protesting when it comes to climate action, don't get me wrong, is absolutely fantastic. But there has been so much more news articles now where protesters, both peaceful and non-peaceful, are being they're being, you know, punished for spreading awareness and taking action for something that they think is going to be a genuine concern in years to come. Um would you say would you say that people are losing control over like their opinions?

SPEAKER_01 5:21

I think that people when you go protesting, I think it's the people that are making climate protests unpeaceful, which is ruining it for everyone else, because if everyone because you're you're protesting on climate action, it should be, you know, something you just want to share, it shouldn't be something that's turned into violence and fights and everything else that goes on throughout protests. So I think the people that are doing that is just losing control in the wrong way. If they really have that passion to share for you know the climate, then just keep the protest peaceful and you know you can protest there all day. If you're just stood there on the side of the room with a sign, you can be there for as long as you want. If you're there punching people because you don't agree with what they're saying or what they're doing, then that's when the protest is obviously gonna go nobody's listening to you for your thing, they're just looking at you for your actions, yeah. Who's that client on the side of the road?

SPEAKER_02 6:07

So, um, this is actually a really good question. I feel like we could probably both answer this. Do we feel guilt about our own environmental issues? Like, do you feel like there's one time that you've maybe you've thrown rubbish or something like that, and you're just thinking, Christ, look at the planet now.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Yeah, I think when I was younger, like you know, there's not bin around, you just you just chuck. And I think that back then you wouldn't think of it, you just think, oh, it's just a piece of rubbish.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

And now you see a piece on social media and you take it takes a real digger you. It's like I wish I hadn't thrown that plastic bottle at the park.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

I think the way you see it now is was like the the big thing with Save the Turtles with all plastic straws and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

They started like um and you know, they started like an app, I believe, and it was a mainly it was a main female platform, and I believe it was called Visco, and it was all about like healthy lifestyles and like using things that were more sustainable. Like I know in just before 2020 it started and Visco became a big thing, and environmental, like you know, brands that were just trying to make things a little bit more sustainable, like the Hydro Flask, for example, it all went really really popular because it was a trend and not because it was doing anything for the planet, because save the turtles was a trend.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

Yeah, and I think uh the big issue with Hydro Flask, don't get me wrong, like they're they're nice to have, but the big thing with those is the prices. A lot of people don't want to go and spend they're like 30 to 100.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

100% it's the same with Stanley nowadays.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

That's what I mean. Like Stanley would have started so much cheaper, and now they're charging £50 for a bottle, which some people are fine to spend it, but some people aren't. And if they say there's someone who can't afford that bottle, what are they gonna do then? If they want to help out and start using hydro flasks or Stanley Cups, whatever either or how are they gonna be able to do it if they can't afford to buy one of the big brands that they have?

SPEAKER_02 7:45

It's such a big issue when like you know, school children don't follow the trend as well. Yeah, like I know in school personally, Stanleys were a trend when I was in year 11, that's all around 2023, and um one big problem with the Stanley Cups is like girls who didn't have real Stanley cups, they were you know, there was always an opinion on them. It's like your Stanley's not real, and I know that sounds really, really stupid, but it was genuinely such a big trend at the point where if you don't have a Stanley label on the front of your cup, you're not trending, you're not part of the trend, you're not trying to save the environment. Like, I feel like saving the environment has become such a correlated trend with young people. Now it's like these brands that are trying to be sustainable aren't actually like in like you know, they're not actually trying to promote sustainability at all because the way they manufacture these things is not sustainable. But as long as they can throw it out in the market, say it's good for the planet for a good 50 quid, people will buy it.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Yeah, I think that's I'm quite glad I'm a boy in school because we're gonna have arguments about Stanley Cup. Um yeah, just just a cup does for us.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

Um with climate anxiety, a lot of people feel anger and frustration towards um people of power, like government and corporations. Obviously, we spoke about people who you know tried to talk about you know their opinions and like I think Greta Thunberg was a really really big one we spoke about and about how she was she was wasting like the time that she was spending in school talking to people of power and she wasn't being listened to, no, like whatsoever. Do you yourself feel anger towards all of those people of power who sat there and listened and didn't take action? Because we haven't seen action since that.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

No. Um, I think anger a little bit, you don't feel it much because some people sit there, but because they can't do anything on it. I think the main anger I have is the people that say they're gonna change this, that, the other, all the things they say they're gonna do, but they never actually do it. That's when there's an issue. Say, for example, you were there and you were listening to it and you were in government, but you can't actually change anything. That's different. I feel like some people get a lot of people who are in government, some of them get a lot of hatred because they're not doing anything about it, but they but they can't. I think it should be mainly like you know, the people who can or they've said they can do this, that, the other, and then don't actually do something.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

Yeah, I'd say I'm really, really like obviously I just said now um protesting's become it's become such a problem. And like it's not that it's a problem. Like protesting, don't get me wrong, if it's a peaceful protest, you're just surrounded by a bunch of people and you've all got the same idea, but it's still being pushed away as a violent form of you know action, regardless as to whether or not it's peaceful. I find it really, really aggravating that people aren't allowed to go out with signs and just say this is what we want and this is what we want to get and this is how we're gonna get it, yeah. And just being pushed away because it's a non-peaceful kind of protest. Like there's never a peaceful protest, in my opinion. You could be as silent as whatever, but I mean there's still a crowd of people and they still are coming together to share an opinion that not everybody's gonna like. One thing that's really starting to, you know, wind me up, and I know it winds up a lot of people, is the fact that you know, protesting is such a like shameful look to that thing. Like, I don't understand why people can't just go up and just hold up signs and just be like, this is what we want for climate action, this is how we're gonna get it, and have people be like, No, you're being too much, like you've got to go away because this is getting to our hand.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

I think the people, like you just said, the ones that just go and hold a sign, I think that's you know, no one's having an issue with them. They're just trying to protest. I think it's be I think protesters have gone, they've gone into something where people have always got different opinions on them and people give them hate, is because of how some of them are, and I think that's the big issue. You have to like look now and think, okay, well they're not actually doing anything. Just because I've seen someone a few weeks ago do this doesn't mean I should have any hatred towards Susan who's just holding a sign.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Mm-hmm. I'd say the last thing to cover with climate anxiety is people's difficulty to enjoy everyday life because of the concerns that there are out there to do with our world.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

I reckon there's many people that are scared to leave their house because of it. I reckon they're scared, okay, what if I leave? What's gonna happen? And like is there gonna be a bomb, an earthquake, or anything that I think when you see it or when you read it is when you actually start to feel it. So I think there's many people that are probably sat in their home not wanting to leave because of it.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

I feel like I'm scared of it. I feel like are you scared to we're just gonna wake up and everything's gonna be completely different tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Or gone.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

Genuinely. And it could be, because you know, that's how that's how crazy and like quick the world can, you know, change. Yeah. I mean, climate's such a it's such a big topic, and it's I'll be honest, British people complain about it. Like one day it'll be absolutely freeze in and everybody'll be like, oh my god, it's absolutely like freeze in, and I hate it, and then we'll wake up the next day and it'll be an like abnormal change to the heat. It'll just like today. It'll be sticky, warm, clammy, and everybody'll be like, it's way too hot, it's way too clammy. I wish it was cold outside. So no matter what, we're not happy. Yeah, but I think that because of how like much climate change has affected, you know, the up and the down in the temperature in the UK, especially. I think that we're not we're not gonna appreciate it because it's not natural weather behaviour. Like right now it's springtime. We're starting to see warm weather, but we're starting to see sticky, hot, warm summer weather.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Shit sticking to you, no, no one's no one's in a good mood.

SPEAKER_02 13:08

And not only that, but like you're sweating, but then it's windy outside, so you're absolutely freezing cold. Like genuinely, it's the most disgusting weather in the world. But I'd definitely say that that's the biggest concern. And I think that's scaring a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Yeah. Tomorrow it could be cold again. Yeah. Yes, yesterday was, I would say it was um it was definitely warm yesterday. It was really warm yesterday. It was warm, but it was wasn't warm. It was like cold warm today, different level.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

And see now, that's what makes me anxious. It does make me really, really anxious because I mean I'm preparing myself to go out and take a jacket out, and then I'm walking around with my jacket all day and stuff like that. And it's like it's not even that it's a big thing, it's the fact that we don't expect it, and it's just so out of nowhere. Yeah. Like I can understand why people are scared to leave their house because personally I'm scared for what the future's gotta hold because of climate crisis, anyways.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

But yeah, I feel like we covered a lot on climate anxiety.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

So thank you for listening. Listen to the Climate Shift Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

My name's Laura Bertles.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

And my name's An Thomas.

unknown 14:04

I don't know if I've done it.