mental health
Young people grapple with emotional fallout from climate change
Anxiety over a warming planet is disrupting daily life for many young people, prompting new efforts to support mental health and foster resilience.
In short:
- Climate change is affecting young people's mental health through persistent worry, grief, and fear about the future, often leading to sleep issues and trouble concentrating.
- Therapists, educators, and community advocates are developing new strategies — from nature-based therapy to school tool kits — to help individuals cope emotionally with climate disruption.
- Many parents and teachers are modeling sustainable behaviors and encouraging collective action to help youth channel anxiety into engagement.
Key quote:
“A lot of times, the anxiety and the hopelessness comes from a feeling of powerlessness. And I don’t think any of us is powerless.”
— Kate Marvel, climate scientist and author
Why this matters:
The emotional toll of climate change is no longer a distant or abstract concern. For many young people, the crisis plays out not just in heat waves and fires but also in rising anxiety, depression, and existential fear. Studies show that a large majority of youth feel deeply concerned about climate change, but many believe they’re alone in those feelings — a gap that fuels isolation and despair. Mental health professionals are increasingly treating what’s known as “eco-anxiety,” while teachers and parents are being called to help youth process their concerns without downplaying the reality. As the climate crisis intensifies, so too does the need to understand and address its psychological dimensions, especially for the generations inheriting its consequences.
Related EHN coverage: Pollution’s mental toll: How air, water and climate pollution shape our mental health
Extreme weather during pregnancy may affect babies’ brain development, study finds
When Superstorm Sandy hit New York in 2012, pregnant women exposed to the storm and extreme heat gave birth to children who now show structural changes in brain areas linked to emotional health.
In short:
- A study from Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY), used MRI scans to examine the brains of 8-year-old children whose mothers experienced Superstorm Sandy while pregnant. It found increased volume in the basal ganglia, a brain area that helps regulate emotions.
- The changes were more pronounced when mothers also endured extreme heat during pregnancy, though heat alone showed little impact. The study suggests that climate disasters and heat may interact to shape fetal brain development.
- Scientists say these findings signal that the climate crisis can have neurological consequences for future generations, expanding the scope of concern beyond the environment to public health and childhood development.
Key quote:
“What we are seeing is compelling evidence that the climate crisis is not just an environmental emergency, it is potentially a neurological one with consequence for future generations who will inherit our planet.”
— Duke Shereen, co-author of the study and director of the MRI facility at CUNY Graduate Center
Why this matters:
Rising global temperatures and stronger storms pose a risk to more than infrastructure: They affect health, and may leave biological scars before birth. During pregnancy, a fetus’ brain develops rapidly, making it highly sensitive to environmental stress. This vulnerability means that climate-fueled events like hurricanes and heat waves could alter emotional and cognitive outcomes in children. Such changes might not become obvious for years but can shape everything from mental health to learning capacity. As climate-related disasters become more frequent and intense, researchers are just beginning to understand their long-term effects on the next generation.
Related EHN coverage: LISTEN: Robbie Parks on climate justice and mental health
San Francisco turned a coastal highway into a park. Locals are still arguing about it.
San Francisco's transformation of a scenic highway into a car-free oceanfront park has sparked celebration and controversy, reshaping public space and local politics.
In short:
- The city permanently closed part of the Great Highway after erosion forced officials to reconsider its future, converting it into Sunset Dunes Park, a car-free space now full of kids, cyclists, and walkers.
- While voters citywide approved the park, many residents of adjacent neighborhoods opposed it, citing longer commute times and increased traffic on nearby streets. A recall effort is underway against the supervisor who supported the project.
- Despite political backlash, the park has quickly become one of the most visited in San Francisco, with nearby coffee shops seeing a boom and thousands turning out for events like Easter egg hunts and Halloween festivals.
Key quote:
“There’s a great opportunity to integrate both the coastline and the neighborhood. There’s got to be a balance between leaning into nature and leaning into how people use this space.”
— Phil Ginsburg, general manager, SF Recreation and Parks
Why this matters:
San Francisco has pulled off a rare feat in modern American city planning. Reclaiming roads for parks can improve mental and physical health, reduce car pollution, and foster community. But the backlash and resulting political uproar shows how tricky it is to untangle car-centric infrastructure from daily life. Still, there's an inevitability to this road's closure: Sea level rise and the resulting erosion was responsible for the decision to permanently close one stretch of the highway, and that's a problem that will only grow as time passes.
Read more:
Teen-run conservation group helps Minnesota youth cope with climate stress through action
A student-led environmental group in Minnesota is helping teenagers turn climate anxiety into purpose by organizing hands-on conservation projects like planting trees and restoring trails.
In short:
- The Green Crew, a youth-driven conservation group founded in the Twin Cities, engages students in environmental restoration efforts such as invasive species removal and native habitat restoration. It began in 2021 as part of the Izaak Walton League’s local chapter.
- The group’s model, developed by a father-daughter team, has expanded to 50 core members and is drawing national attention, with more than 2,000 volunteers expected to participate in 2025 projects. Teenagers lead and design all initiatives, including a project to plant Dutch elm disease-resistant trees.
- Psychologists suggest that collective action like this may buffer the mental toll of climate change on youth. Participants describe the work as empowering and emotionally grounding, offering them hope and connection amid widespread environmental concerns.
Key quote:
“It feels like I’m not just sitting around and doing nothing. It gives me hope.”
— Hannah Stockert Barisonzi, 17, Green Crew founder
Why this matters:
For many young people, the looming reality of climate change is a source of daily distress. Climate anxiety, or the chronic fear of environmental doom, affects a growing number of teens who have come of age amid worsening weather events and political inaction. Studies show that this psychological burden can manifest as anxiety, depression, or despair. But when young people engage directly with nature through tangible, collective action, they often find relief and meaning. These experiences foster a sense of agency and community connection that can counter feelings of helplessness. Projects like those led by the Green Crew offer a model not just for environmental impact, but also for youth mental health and resilience.
Related EHN coverage:
Extreme weather isn’t the future — it’s already straining budgets and resources
From hurricane-ravaged Florida to drought-stricken Australia, the true cost of climate change is hitting home — literally and financially. A five-part Living Planet series reframes climate change not just as an environmental crisis but as an economic time bomb, already reshaping retirements, insurance markets, and entire communities. But it also shines a light on opportunities for transformation.
In short:
- Part 1: Climate change is fueling more frequent and intense hurricanes. The U.S. now faces billion-dollar weather disasters every three weeks — up from once every four months in the 1980s. As Florida’s storms grow more destructive and insurers bail, homeowners are being left to weather the costs of climate change on their own.
- Part 2: Clean energy isn’t just possible — it’s profitable. Experts say transitioning to renewables is not only cheaper than fossil fuels long-term, but already economically smart. A climate-rattled Australian farmer proves the concept by turning his drought-ravaged land into a renewable energy powerhouse.
- Part 3: Who should pay to fix climate change? Turns out it’s complicated. The debate over how to finance climate action is turning into a political minefield, as governments struggle to balance subsidies, taxes, and fairness in their quest to cut emissions. Globally, fossil fuel subsidies remain staggeringly high — $7 trillion in 2022 alone — fueling planet-warming pollution and undercutting efforts to fund clean energy transitions.
- Part 4: Extreme heat is wrecking our health, economy, and infrastructure. As global temperatures rise, the deadly and costly toll of extreme heat is pushing health systems, workers, and city infrastructure past their limits.Heatwaves are now the deadliest weather-related threat, straining emergency rooms, degrading hospital infrastructure, and causing surges in life-threatening conditions like strokes and heart attacks.
- Part 5: The economy keeps ignoring nature, and it’s costing us more than we realize. When ecosystems collapse, we lose food security, climate buffers, and even the sources of life-saving medicines. Economists argue nature’s value — like pollination, flood protection, and biodiversity — is excluded from GDP, leaving society blind to its economic and health benefits.
Why this matters:
In DW’s new Living Planet series, reporters Sam Baker and Charli Shield rip the “future problem” label off climate change and show how it’s quietly bulldozing through economies across the globe. The message is clear: climate change isn’t just a natural disaster — it’s also an economic one. And whether it’s a flooded basement or a heat-stressed heart, it’s already costing us more than we bargained for.
Planting trees at schools could be the climate fix our kids desperately need
In heat-blasted parts of Los Angeles, a small nonprofit is transforming schoolyards into leafy sanctuaries, and the effects on kids' health and learning are no accident.
In short:
- Washington Elementary in Pasadena, once a bare, overheated schoolyard, now boasts gardens, shade trees, and outdoor classrooms thanks to Amigos de los Rios, a nonprofit greening underserved schools.
- Tree cover in LA is drastically uneven — primarily white, affluent neighborhoods get the shade, while low-income, predominantly Black and Latino communities bear the brunt of asphalt and extreme heat.
- Trees lower urban temperatures, filter air, protect kids from UV rays, and improve both mental health and academic performance, making them a public health tool, not just landscaping.
Key quote:
“Green space doesn’t just support childhood development – it supercharges it.”
— Dan Lambe, CEO of the Arbor Day Foundation
Why this matters:
Extreme heat is a growing threat to kids’ health, fueling asthma, heatstroke, and poor school performance. Urban trees are a cheap, powerful defense, yet access is unequal. Trees cool the air, filter out particulates, muffle urban chaos, and turn outdoor space into something more livable — with dignity. For children, that can help make the difference between surviving a school day and thriving in one. And for communities long denied that dignity, it’s shade with a side of justice.
Read more: How youth can battle extreme heat in their communities
Adolescents are facing a global health crisis that’s only getting worse
By 2030, nearly half a billion young people worldwide could be living with obesity or overweight, marking a sharp decline in adolescent health.
In short:
- The Lancet commission warns that adolescent health is reaching a “tipping point,” with rising rates of obesity, mental illness, and climate-related risks.
- High-income regions and parts of Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East already see more than a third of young people dealing with obesity or overweight.
- While smoking and alcohol use are down, progress on youth health has been undermined by COVID-19 and chronic underfunding.
Key quote:
“The rise in obesity and related diseases is not just a matter of individual choices – it’s the result of environments flooded with health-harming products including ultra-processed food, alongside policies that fail to protect young people.”
— Johanna Ralston, CEO of the World Obesity Federation
Why this matters:
Public health infrastructure hasn’t kept pace with what young people now face. Obesity, mental illness, and climate threats are piling up for the next generation, and they’re hitting young people early and hard. Without investment in adolescent health, there's a real risk of locking in poor outcomes that echo into adulthood — impacting everything from chronic disease to economic opportunity.
Read more: Untangling the causes of obesity