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American Journal of Climate Change, 2021, 10, 1-11
https://www.scirp.org/journal/ajcc
ISSN Online: 2167-9509
ISSN Print: 2167-9495
DOI:
10.4236/ajcc.2021.101001 Feb. 10, 2021 1
American Journal of Climate Change
Population Levels of Climate Change Fear in the
United States
Casey Mace Firebaugh1*, Tara Rava Zolnikov2,3, Frances Furio3, Germaine Ng4
1Department of Health Sciences, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington, USA
2National University, Department of Community Health, San Diego, California, USA
3California Southern University, School of Behavioral Sciences, Costa Mesa, California, USA
4University of Washington, Bothell, Washington, USA
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 informa-
tion and global questions regarding self-rated anxiety and fea
r of climate
change. Ordinal logistic models were created to determine which demo-
graphic factors were most predictive of climate change fear in the US popula-
tion. Over half of the study sample (50.9%) indicated being moderately or
very afraid of climate change. In the end, only three factors remained signifi-
cant (
p
< 0.001) in the model; self-reported level of anxiety, political affilia-
tion, and identifying and Hispanic/Latino. Climate change fear is still not
understood, especially in terms of its impact on the mental health of the pop-
ulation 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 signifi-
cantly by demographic. This study has provided e
vidence that climate
change fear impacts a significant proportion of the US population, prompt-
ing 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 respo
nse to climate
change should be explored as well as potential responses to fear due to cli-
mate change.
Keywords
Climate Change, Mental Health, Global Adaption, Fear, Resiliency
How to cite this paper:
Firebaugh, C. M.,
Zolnikov,
T. R., Furio, F., & Ng, G. (2021).
Population Levels of Climate Change Fear
in the United States
.
Ameri
can Journal of
Climate Change,
10,
1-11.
https://doi.org/10.4236/ajcc.2021.101001
Received:
January 6, 2021
Accepted:
February 7, 2021
Published:
February 10, 2021
Copyright © 20
21 by author(s) and
Scientific
Research Publishing Inc.
This work is
licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution International
License (CC BY
4.0).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Open Access
C. M. Firebaugh et al.
DOI:
10.4236/ajcc.2021.101001 2
American Journal of Climate Change
1. Introduction
Over the last century, rises in carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse
gases have contributed to changes in the climate. Effects related to this increased
climate pose great challenges for our world (Trombley et al., 2017). Global cli-
mate changes have been evidenced by droughts, extreme storms, melting ice and
snow, rising sea levels, rising surface temperature, and increasing variability
(Trombley et al., 2017; Frumkin et al., 2008). Climate change impacts not only
the environment, but also the humans and animals that live within it (Zolnikov,
2019). Research has shown that the effects of climate change can have a signifi-
cant impact on human health (Méndez-Lázaro et al., 2018; Frumkin et al., 2008).
These impacts are evidenced by various health outcomes associated with weather
and climate, including hypothermia from cold, hyperthermia from heat, famine
from droughts, increased risk or distribution of diseases from certain climates,
and harm and displacement from disasters like fires, floods, tornadoes, and hur-
ricanes (Frumkin et al., 2008).
While there is significant research related to the topic of climate change, and
even research related to physical health outcomes associated with the weather
and climate, there is less research that focuses specifically on psychological or
mental health outcomes associated with climate change (Trombley et al., 2017;
Hansen et al., 2012). Recent studies have demonstrated that the belief in climate
change and its consequences on human populations is increasing amongst the
American public (Sullivan & White, 2019). The research available provides evi-
dence that mental health may be impacted by climate change in both direct and
indirect ways (e.g., firsthand exposure, community well-being) (Clark & Zolni-
kov, 2020). Mental health related outcomes associated with climate change may
include stress, anxiety, depression, violence, aggression, and loss of community
identity (Trombley et al., 2017). Additionally, despair, emotional distress, and
fear have been identified as potential mental health related outcomes associated
with climate change (Frumkin et al., 2008). In addition to general populations, it
has been noted that at-risk populations, such as those experiencing preexisting
vulnerabilities, may be at an increased risk of mental health difficulties as a result
of the various impacts and outcomes of climate change (Clark & Zolnikov,
2020).
Fear, an outcome of climate change highlighted in available research, has been
described as an evolved response, one that helps people deal with encounters
and situations that are threatening (Loewenstein & Schwartz, 2010). Fear is a
feeling, but also an adaptive response that increases hearing acuity, awareness,
and memory (Loewenstein & Schwartz, 2010). Fear related to climate change
and our future climate is complex. Public discourse related to the topic of cli-
mate change includes concerns about associated dangers, catastrophes, and even
extinctions (Hulme, 2008). Some researchers have expected that this fear may
motivate the public to support public policies addressing the impacts of climate
change (Stern, 2012). Other researchers have noted that while fear motivates
C. M. Firebaugh et al.
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10.4236/ajcc.2021.101001 3
American Journal of Climate Change
people to address and eliminate imminent risks, constant risks can indicate to
our fear system that fear does not serve a function (Loewenstein & Schwartz,
2010). Therefore, constancy of risks related to climate change over time could
result in a deficiency of fear (Loewenstein & Schwartz, 2010).
It is clear that the world must adapt to climate changes, as these changes will
continue to affect various aspects of life on every continent to varying degrees
(Zolnikov et al., 2019). One component of this adaptation will be further ex-
ploring and identifying the complex impacts of climate change on mental health
(Clark & Zolnikov, 2020). Understanding the ways in which mental health can
be impacted by climate change will provide additional insight into the ways in
which populations may be able to be effectively supported (Clark & Zolnikov,
2020). The expectation of this research was to provide more information related
to climate change and fear in human populations. More specifically, the purpose
of this study was to investigate demographic factors associated with fear of cli-
mate change in the U.S. general population.
2. Methods
2.1. Study Design & Sampling
In the summer of 2019, a cross-sectional online survey was distributed to a de-
mographically representative (n = 546) sample of American adults (aged 18 and
over). Participants were recruited by completed the online survey through Qual-
trics which allowed computer and mobile device participation.
2.2. Measures
Demographic information including race/ethnicity, Hispanic/Latino identifying,
sex/gender, age, income, educational attainment were based upon the US Census
data questions (United States Census, 2019). Fear of climate change was meas-
ured by a likert-scale based upon a previous study conducted by Whitmarsh and
colleagues (Whitmarsh, 2009a, 2009b; Poortinga et al., 2011), asking “How
afraid are you of climate change?” The responses ranged from not afraid at all to
very afraid. In addition, self-rated anxiety was measured, via a global likert-scale
question “Would you consider yourself to be an anxious person?” The possible
responses were yes, no, or not sure. Because previous research on climate change
perceptions notes political belief as a salient factor (Hornsey et al., 2016), a ques-
tion about political affiliation was included, which asked participants to classify
themselves as either republican, democrat, independent, other, or no affiliation.
2.3. Data Analysis
Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 25. A logistic regression
model was performed to determine factors significant to the dependent variable:
level of climate change fear. To build the models each independent variable was
tested at the bivariate level for a significant association with the dependent vari-
able. Those variables that were significant at the bivariate level (
p
< .05) were in-
C. M. Firebaugh et al.
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10.4236/ajcc.2021.101001 4
American Journal of Climate Change
cluded in the final logistic regression model. The control variables included in
the final model were: The model settings tested for main effects of all variables
included and significant variables were at the (
p
< .05) level, due to the ordinal
nature of the variables estimated marginal means were not produced. This study
was approved by the Central Washington University Human Subjects Research
Council (2019-087). Data from this study is not available for public use but is
available upon further permission/amendment to the original IRB.
3. Results
The sample (n = 546) consisted of a relatively equal proportion of male 48/.5%
(n = 265) and female respondents, with a minority of respondents identifying as
transgender/other/non-binary 50.9% (n = 278). When asked about race/ethnicity,
respondents reported identifying as White 72.5% (n = 396), Black 14.8% (n =
81), American Indian/Alaskan Native 1.8% (n = 10), Asian 5.5% (n = 30), Ha-
waiian/Pacific Islander .5% (n = 3), Other 4.6% (n = 25) and the proportion of
the sample that identified as Hispanic/Latino was 17.4% (n = 95). The age dis-
tribution of the sample was evenly distributed in the three categories 18 - 34, 35 -
54, 55 and over [Table 1].
When asked “how afraid are you of climate change” of the entire sample,
21.6% were very afraid, 29.3% were moderately afraid, 21.8% were neutral,
11.7% were a little afraid, while 15.6% were not afraid at all [Figure 1].
At the bivariate level the following factors were not significant (
p
> .05);
gender and race/ethnicity. And the following factors were identified as signifi-
cant at the bivariate level; age (
p
< .001), identifying as Hispanic/Latino (
p
< .001), level of educational attainment (
p
< .05), level of income (
p
= .001), po-
litical affiliation (
p
< .001), and self-reported anxiety (
p
< .001). The significant
factors were included in the final model and when tested for main effects, only
identifying Hispanic/Latino (
p
< .05), Political Affiliation (
p
< .001), and
Self-Reported Anxiety (
p
< .001). Remained significant predictive factors [Table
1].
Figure 1. Level of climate fear reported (n = 546).
C. M. Firebaugh et al.
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American Journal of Climate Change
Table 1. Sample characteristics.
Total
% of
Total N
Very
Afraid
N (%)
Moderately
Afraid
Neutral
A
Little
Afraid
Not
Afraid
at All
118 160 119 64 85
Gender
Male 265 48.5% 65 80 46 24 50
Female 278 50.9% 53 79 73 39 34
Non-Binary/Other 3 0.6% 1 1 1
Age
18 - 34 166 30.4% 40 50 46 17 13
35 - 54 188 34.4% 53 56 40 15 24
55 and over 192 35.2% 25 54 33 32 48
Hispanic/Latino**
Yes 95 17.4% 31 33 13 9 9
No 451 82.6% 87 127 106 55 76
Race
White 396 72.5% 83 122 73 51 67
Black 81 14.8% 17 19 30 8 7
American Indian or
Alaskan Native
10 1.8% 3 1 2 2 2
Asian 30 5.5% 5 9 10 2 4
Native Hawaiian or
Pacific Islander 3 0.5% 1 0 1 0 1
Other 25 4.6% 8 9 3 1 4
Educational Attainment
No Secondary Education 6 1.1% 0 2 4 0 0
High school 129 23.6% 26 31 35 16 21
Technical Associates 56 10.3% 6 23 11 7 9
Some College No Degree 129 23.6% 19 41 32 16 21
Bachelors 128 23.4% 26 41 25 16 20
Masters 77 14.1% 32 18 10 6 11
Doctoral 21 3.8% 9 4 2 3 3
Income Level
Less than $25,750.00 136 24.9% 29 37 33 14 23
$25,751 - 50,000 126 23.1% 19 36 34 17 20
$50,001 - 75,000 106 19.4% 19 35 23 14 15
$75,001 - 125,000 105 19.2% 20 32 22 11 20
$125,001 and over 73 13.4% 31 20 7 8 7
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Continued
Political Affiliation**
Republican 167 30.6% 37 37 29 26 38
Democrat 205 37.5% 58 73 37 21 16
Independent 137 25.1% 19 41 39 17 21
Other 5 0.9% 1 0 2 0 2
No Preference 32 5.9% 3 9 12 0 8
Anxious Person**
Yes 223 40.8% 70 76 44 19 14
No 275 50.4% 42 68 57 40 68
Not Sure 48 8.8% 6 16 18 5 3
4. Discussion
Climate change can have significant effects on population health, although
mental health has been historically less researched. The effects on mental health
from climate change may be expansive and could include anxiety for the future,
stress for exposure to natural disasters, or fear for the future of the planet (e.g.
catastrophe, extinction, etc.). This type of fear is important to understand to ad-
dress it in affected populations and improve mental health. Moreover, it has
been speculated that by fear, policies and programs may be improved to en-
courage behavior change in the public (Stern, 2012). Other researchers have
noted that while fear motivates people to address and eliminate imminent risks,
continual mention of risks can cause a desensitization of information and work
against fear-based motivation (Loewenstein & Schwartz, 2010).
This study sought to understand fear and climate change and classify this
population by using demographic and other identifying information. The results
from this study found that most Americans have some degree of fear towards
climate change and just over half are moderately to very afraid. In terms of
gender, race/ethnicity, identifying Hispanic/Latino, age, the study sample was
consistent with the U.S. Census Bureau (2020).
Interestingly, one of the first papers to explore climate change, beliefs, and
demographic associations (most notably gender) in the United States outlined
the archetype of the conservative white male in the United States as a climate
change denier (McCright & Dunlap, 2011). These demographic associations
have been replicated in other studies outside of the United States as well
(Krange, Kaltenborn, & Hultman, 2019). However, the data in this study found
that gender may not play as significant role in climate change belief/fear as pre-
viously studied, perhaps indicating the conservative women are less fearful of
climate change than previously thought, or perhaps there is a generational gap
with older conservative men differing in climate change beliefs from their
younger peers. A Pew Research poll conducted in 2015 found that women were
more likely than men to report concern regarding climate change; more specifi-
C. M. Firebaugh et al.
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American Journal of Climate Change
cally, 69% of women were concerned about the effects of climate change and ac-
companying personal harm, while fewer than half of men (48%) reported the
same (Zainulbhai, 2015). However, a meta-analysis by Hornsey and colleagues
(2016) found that variables, such as education, sex, subjective knowledge, and
experience of extreme weather events, were less significant in determining in
predictive power by constructs of values, ideologies, worldviews and political
orientation. While the sample was mostly representative of the US sample in
terms of gender, transgender/non-binary/other identifying individuals may have
been under-represented in this study sample, consistent with other population
health studies (Meerwijk & Sevelius, 2017).
4.1. Political Affiliation
Consistent with previous studies, climate change perceptions are significantly
associated with political affiliation (Ballew et al., 2019; Hornsey et al., 2016).
However, previous research primarily focuses on the dichotomy of the republi-
can (conservative) versus the democratic (liberal) parties in the United States,
two-party political system. While conservatives or republicans in the United
States are generally portrayed and perceived to be climate change skeptics, the
results of this study found that in fact, the majority of conservative-identifying
individuals were (moderately or very) afraid of climate change, indicating not
only a belief in its existence but a genuine concern. Our sample consisted of an
approximate equal number of republican and democratic identifying individu-
als, but also included a large independent party, and other or non-affiliated
groups also emerged. However, all political groups demonstrated this pattern,
with the majority of members reporting that they were moderately to very afraid.
The beliefs and perceptions surrounding climate change may evolve quickly
within demographic groups.
4.2. Self-Rated Anxiety
Self-reported anxiety was statistically significantly with climate change fear.
These results are not surprising, as climate change is a longstanding issue and
chronic mental health disorders can cause anxiety, depression, and even post-
traumatic stress disorders (U.S. Global Change Research Program, 2016). More
specifically, flooding and droughts are associated with anxiety, depression, and
posttraumatic stress, while losses from these natural disasters can contribute to
depression and anxiety (U.S. Global Change Research Program, 2016). Up to
50% of individuals exposed to a weather disaster are at risk for negative mental
health effects, like depression and anxiety. To date, it has been estimated that
14% of the worldwide burden of disease is attributed to neuropsychiatric dis-
orders (e.g., due to the long-term negative outcomes of depression and anxiety,
alcohol, substance use disorders, etc.), all conditions which are known risk fac-
tors for individuals exposed to severe climate change (Prince et al., 2007). An-
xiety also arises with physical challenges that occur from stifling heat waves, that
C. M. Firebaugh et al.
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American Journal of Climate Change
can cause discomfort as individuals struggle to adapt; studies show that climate
change beyond a person’s control can give rise to stress, anxiety, and depression.
Obradovich and colleagues (2018) also noted that increased temperature and
precipitation are each correlated with an increase of mental health issues.
4.3. Implications
Given the high proportion of fear of climate change in the American population,
it is important for public and mental health professionals to understand the
more about the impacts of climate change fear in the daily lives and functioning
of the general population. The effects are twofold in that this information can
help mitigate adverse mental health in affected populations and also, understand
ways to motive individuals to encourage positive change addressing climate
change. In addition, this study determined that when controlling for age, gender,
educational attainment, and income self-identified anxiety and climate change
fear were significantly associated. Although this study could not provide conclu-
sive evidence whether anxiety precedes climate change fear or whether climate
change fear precedes anxiety, there appears to be a relationship between these
variables that should be explored further. Moreover, understanding how these
groups are associated with state of high climate change is important to address
the issue of mental health problems caused by anxiety due to climate change. As
such, living in a perpetual state of fear can be damaging to daily function and
mental and physical health (Moller, 2017), further studies should investigate the
positive and negative potentials for fear in relation to climate change. Positive
fear can be a motivation to act, including becoming aware or educating, prepar-
ing for natural disasters or emergencies (National Research Council [NRC],
1991). However, negative fear, such as consuming thoughts, emotional distur-
bance of anxiety that inhibits daily functioning should be examined to determine
appropriate mental interventions. Finally, it should be mentioned that there are
limitations on determining the variables that are associated with the fear of cli-
mate change as clinical research on this field is still limited.
4.4. Limitations
Climate change can be somewhat of an abstract term, as people could range in
definitions of it, from heat waves to increased greenhouse gases. Climate change
research, in particular the social and behavioral aspects of climate change is im-
paired by a lack of streamlined terminology, measurement, and approach to
create generalizable data and findings. In the early days of the climate change
crisis, determining the terminology between the terms global warming and cli-
mate change created some discrepancy in research aims/findings. Likewise, the
fear, concern, belief realm of climate change research is limited by this lack of
internationally standardized approach. In addition, fear was measured by one
global likert-scale question. More in-depth understanding of the construct of
fear in the context of climate change should be explored. While this study was
C. M. Firebaugh et al.
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American Journal of Climate Change
not able to shed light on some of the complex psychological nuances of per-
ceived fear and results of fear, this study was able to provide an important find-
ing: the number of people in a large sample who report fear of climate change.
Whatever that means, requires further examination. Finally, this study was con-
ducted via an online platform, which lends itself to a more tech savvy sample
population.
4.5. Future Research
Future research should delve into understanding if fear related to climate change
is a mental health crisis, a political crisis, or existential crisis. Further studies
should investigate the positive and negative potentials of fear in relation to cli-
mate change. Positive fear can be motivation to act, including becoming aware
or educating, preparing for natural disasters or emergencies. However, negative
fear, such as consuming thoughts, emotional disturbance of anxiety that inhibits
daily functioning should be examined to determine appropriate mental inter-
ventions. Delineating between these two upstream contributors can help in eas-
ing fear in populations caused by climate change outcomes.
5. Conclusion
This study had demonstrated that fear of climate change impacts over half of the
U.S population. Level of fear differs significantly by demographic. It is important
to identify climate change-related mental health risks as a mainstream health
priority.
Acknowledgements
The manuscript team would like to thank Anne Egger at Central Washington
University, the PI on the NSF grant as well as Germaine Ng of University of
Washington, Bothell for her participation in survey building during the REU
program.
Funding Statement
This research was funded by NSF Grant Number 1559862 titled: REU Site: Ha-
zards and Risks of Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this
paper.
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