{"id":355,"date":"2026-01-15T17:47:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T17:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikehynes.ie\/blog\/?p=355"},"modified":"2026-01-16T12:34:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T12:34:38","slug":"climate-anxiety-among-higher-education-students-at-the-university-of-galway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikehynes.ie\/blog\/2026\/01\/15\/climate-anxiety-among-higher-education-students-at-the-university-of-galway\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Anxiety Among Higher Education Students at the University of Galway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As evidence of climate change becomes more apparent and the\nneed to act becomes more urgent (IPCC, 2023), a sense of helplessness and\npowerlessness now filters through many sectors of society. Daily, the news brings\nnew images and headlines about climate-related disasters \u2014 devastating storms\nand floods, disappearing lakes and rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and disappearing\nbiodiversity. With the paralysis and procrastination of world leaders (and\nworse, outright denial) to act in the face of such urgency, it is no surprise\nthat many are growing increasingly alarmed about the threat to humanity and the\nperilous state of our planet. Climate anxiety, also known as eco-anxiety, is\nthe distress and fear related to the impacts of climate change on the\nenvironment and on future generations. Climate change is a real threat, so it’s\nnormal to feel worried and concerned about its consequences. But worry is not\nthe same thing as anxiety. Many people are worried about climate change, and that\u2019s\na good and healthy thing because worry as an emotion is a motivator. If you\nworry about something, you are motivated to better understand and act to mitigate\nthat worry. Where worry becomes a problem is when it becomes overwhelming and\ndebilitating, when it keeps you from living your life to its full potential.\nClimate anxiety can have some significant impacts in terms of a person\u2019s mental\nwell-being (Majeed and Lee, 2017; Charlson et al<\/em>., 2022), and it can also\nlead to symptoms such as panic attacks, loss of appetite, irritability,\nweakness and sleeplessness (Swim et al<\/em>., 2010).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social scientists have contributed to a crucial body of work on how people cope with and psychologically adapt to climate change. Research findings show that climate change anxiety has two distinct effects on individuals: it directly encourages pro-environmental behaviours in some and, indirectly, may have detrimental effects on such action, such as eco-paralysis (Innocenti et al., 2023). A review of 94 studies focused on climate anxiety, involving 170,000 people across 27 countries, explored who it is most likely to affect and what its possible consequences could be (K\u00fchner, 2025). It found that those who are more likely to experience climate anxiety include women, young adults, people with left-wing views, and those expressing concerns about nature or their future. Climate anxiety is increasing among students in higher education and among young people more broadly (Ramadan, 2023). In a study mapping higher education students’ climate anxiety across sustainability-related study fields, results place climate anxiety within a range of emotions, from sadness to hope (Khalaim and Budziszewska, 2024). Most respondents reported a mixture of empowering and paralysing emotional states, but also advised academia to rethink its time economies, prioritise transformative climate action, acknowledge students\u2019 emotional work around sustainability issues, make climate education more humanistic, and include more-than-human-nature in educational spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To better recognise and understand the local specificities of climate anxiety and its current levels in higher education, this research sought to capture how students, undertaking two sustainability-related modules at the University of Galway, feel about climate change, when their worry or anxiety spikes and what coping mechanisms they use when they experience such concerns. Although not extensive in nature and using a convenience sampling method, responses from 109 first-year and final-year undergraduate students were recieved and analysed. The student responses to these three questions are presented here in graphical form:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Figure 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Figure 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWhen\nasked whether they felt anxious about climate change, over 96% reported some\nlevel of anxiety, with the majority (70.6%) feeling anxious some of the time\n(Figure 1). Less than 4% reported no anxiety about climate change. When asked\nto indicate when such anxiety spiked, a wide range of triggers were suggested\n(Figure 2). The highest response (21.1%) was when students thought about their\nfuture, followed by extreme weather events and hearing about species extinction.\nIn terms of what helps them alleviate worry and anxiety about climate change,\nthe biggest response was \u2018being more sustainable in their own lives\u2019 (44%),\nfollowed by \u2018distracting themselves with humour or entertainment\u2019 (Figure 3).\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nResearchers are increasingly trying to better understand both the \nemotions we experience in response to ecological crises such as climate\n change and how these emotions may be harmful or beneficial to our \noverall well-being. As indicated earlier and found in this study, \nclimate activism and personal pro-environmental behavioural change can \nbe positive outcomes of genuine apprehension and anxiety over climate \nchange. But the role of educators is crucial in providing the space and \n time to discuss students’ concerns and real fears, while also equipping\n them with the tools and know-how to develop tangible, transformative \nclimate action strategies in their personal lives and in the wider \ncommunity. There is also an urgent need to communicate effective coping \n strategies for climate anxiety to environmental practitioners, \nuniversity students, and educators (Daeninck et al<\/em>., 2023). \nGreta Thunberg\u2019s climate activism, which was borne out of her depression\n and urge to make a difference in the world, is an example of the \npositive outcomes climate anxiety can have (Borter, 2019). \n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n