How does climate change affect health and well-being? of Spanish youth? A question has been asked Fad Juventud and the Pfizer Foundation in search of answers. The issues that worry them the most are those that affect their daily lives, such as extreme heat or water and air pollution. Many have already changed their behavior in response.
In addition, they show a great awareness of how environmental damage affects their health and lifestyle: up to one in four (24.2%) complain about the increase in chronic diseases. This is what the report shows – based on research on the Internet for 1,219 young people and young people between the ages of 15 and 29 – eligible Youth roles related to health care and environmental protection, y which he just gave this Thursday.
It follows that taking care of the environment It is the fourth most important issue for young people (30%). It is slightly behind economic growth (36.4%); equality between men and women (36.4%) or fighting economic inequality and poverty (33.1%).
Similarly, one in four young people feel that their stress and worries about the future have increased because of the weather problem. This is what is known as eco-anxiety: emotional instability when you realize the scale of social and environmental problems, especially climate change, and the dangers it brings.
A very worrying scenario
Of course, those who are most concerned about the environment are all the young people who accept big “personal effects”. More than half (53%) had previously experienced two or three natural disasters. heat waves are weather events that have the greatest human impact (67%), followed by fire (31.8%), and drought (27.8%).
Also of concern are insects and pests (24.8%); bad air with pollution peaks (18.7%); contamination or shortage of drinking water (17.8%) or flooding (17.1%).
“Big news”
According to the survey, 9 out of 10 young people show that they are “very concerned” about taking care of the environment. Analyzing this change according to gender, level of education and activities, the profile that shows the most concern is that of a woman with a university education who is studying and who is involved in major events.
When it comes to their views on climate change, many say that individual action is necessary and changing what we eat to stop it. In fact, half have already done so, and while walking or traveling (29.2%). However, young people regret (95%) that, in one way or another, they face obstacles to lead a sustainable life. 49.1% write high cost of goods and work; 34.7% lack of financial incentives; 33.9%, few results of individual actions or 27.6% talk about “insufficient or confusing information.”
For this reason, they strongly call for “big and fast changes” in current policies and there are pessimistic views: “The destruction of the environment is inevitable,” some predict.
Another interesting statistic is that 64.8% of those who are “very concerned” about the environment are also “very concerned” about their health.
And one in four consider the quality of their environment (such as fresh air) to be important to their quality of life. They mention your good nature good health, good food, money and wealth, exercise or good public relations.
