Scientists across Canada are trying to learn enough about climate anxiety to prevent and treat it
When Kiffer Card and his colleagues noticed a gap in research about how climate change has affected Canadians’ mental health, they decided they wanted to close it.
In January, Card and a team of researchers at the Mental Health and Climate Change Alliance released a study that found the 2021 British Columbia heat dome sparked a 13 per cent increase in anxiety related to climate change among those living in that province.
And that research is part of a growing movement to understand the connection between climate change and mental health — and how new phenomena like climate anxiety might be mitigated.
“Hopefully we can spur both investments in public and mental health and encourage politicians to recognize that this is having an effect on people’s daily lives,” said Card, an assistant professor of health sciences.
