Climate change not only has visible effects on ecosystems and human activities. It also has an emotional and psychological impact on those who study it, according to our survey of climate researchers in Switzerland. It’s called eco-anxiety, a persistent concern about climate change’s effect on the planet and its living beings. It can reach a level of emotional distress that disrupts everyday life. Young generations are particularly affected: they fear for the future, even as they hold on to the hope that there is time to prevent worst-case scenarios. While it doesn’t necessarily reach pathological levels, this anxiety and mix of feelings also affects those who study climate professionally. In the series “10 Years of the Paris Agreement”, we highlight what has been done in terms of emissions, renewable energy, climate policies and climate research in Switzerland and around the world since 2015. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of the 80 climate researchers in Switzerland who took part ...
