Population Levels of Climate Change Fear in the United States

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that climate change, like other natural disasters has the potential for significant human health impacts, including mental health. Fear as a psychological construct concerning climate change is not well understood. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted, targeting a demographically representative sample of Americans (n = 546) in terms of ethnicity, age, and gender. Survey questions included demographic information and global questions regarding self-rated anxiety and fear of climate change. Ordinal logistic models were created to determine which demographic factors were most predictive of climate change fear in the US population. Over half of the study sample (50.9%) indicated being moderately or very afraid of climate change. In the end, only three factors remained significant (p < 0.001) in the model; self-reported level of anxiety, political affiliation, and identifying and Hispanic/Latino. Climate change fear is still not understood, especially in terms of its impact on the mental health of the population in general, though prolonged fear can be an antecedent to other mental health disorders. This study had demonstrated that fear of climate change impacts over half of the U.S population. Level of fear differs significantly by demographic. This study has provided evidence that climate change fear impacts a significant proportion of the US population, prompting a need to investigate the potential acute and long-term impacts of this fear on the human psyche. The harms and benefits of the fear response to climate change should be explored as well as potential responses to fear due to climate change.