Let the children tell that they will die from climate change

Is it climate change the greatest threat to humanity? A lot of people would say that. Young people feel particularly hopeless. A recent survey He asked 10,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 in 10 countries about their attitude. climate change. The results were staggering. More than half said “humanity was doomed”; three-quarters said the future was frightening; 55% said they would have fewer opportunities than their parents; 52% said family safety would be threatened; and 39 percent questioned having children. These attitudes were consistent across rich and poor countries, large and small: from the United States and the United Kingdom to Brazil, the Philippines, India, and Nigeria.

It is perfectly legitimate for young people to feel that way. I’ve been there. Today, much of my work is focused on researching, writing, and thinking about climate change. But it’s an area I was almost away from. Having just graduated from university, with a degree in environmental sciences and climate change, it was hard to see that I could contribute anything. I wandered between anger and hope. Any effort seemed futile, and I almost gave up. Fortunately, my perspective has changed. I’m glad. Not only did I continue to work on the climate, I am sure that my work would have had multiple positive effects if I had stayed in the previous mindset. And that’s why I’m convinced that if we want to make progress in the climate, we need to lift that layer of pessimism.

Let’s be clear: climate change is one of the biggest problems we face. It carries a lot of risks — some for sure, others for doubt — and we’re not moving anywhere fast enough to reduce emissions. But there seems to have been a break in communication about what our future entails. None of the climate scientists I know and trust have resigned to the future of oblivion, knowing the dangers better than anyone else. Most have children. In fact, they often have several. Young people too. Now, having children is not an automatic qualification to make rational decisions. But it indicates that those who spend their day studying climate change are optimistic that their children will have a life worth living.

That’s why I find it disturbing that most young people today feel that way them they have no future. Many may refuse to have children as a result. This mentality not only appears in the survey data, it also matches my personal experience. I’m in my thirties and I hear it from friends all the time. Whether or not to bring children into a world on the verge of destruction is a real dilemma.

One of the most recent and disturbing examples of this recent thinking was given by a group of young activists before the German elections. A group called the Last Generation went on hunger strike for almost a month. Several ended up in hospital. One told her parents and friends that they might not see her again. Another told a reporter that hunger “was nothing compared to what we might expect when the climate crisis releases hunger in Europe in 20 years.” I couldn’t figure out where that claim came from. Not from scientists. Believers have not made that claim. Climate change will affect agriculture. In some regions — especially some of the world’s poorest countries — this is the main reason for concern. That’s why I spend so much time working on that. But famine in warm Europe? In 20 years?