Why It's Time to Talk about Well-being in a Changing Climate

Seeing well-being as separate from climate change is like going on a date night to fix a troubled marriage.

I’ve spent much of my life focused on wellness and well-being. I exercise. I eat well – or well enough. I meditate. I’ve talked to a therapist for decades. And I’ve read enough psychology, personal development, and spirituality books to choke a horse. 

Then way, way, way over in another dimension of my life, there is what I read and hear and know about our changing climate.

And it seems as if never the twain shall meet. As if my pursuit of well-being lies on one side of a long bridge and the realities of the world on the other. Sometimes, I feel transported to the climate side and sometimes to the well-being side.  

But stand in the steady middle where I don’t have to be in denial or despair? And where I can apply what I’ve learned about well-being to the particular circumstances of the world we live in?

That is the challenging bit. But, it is also the necessary work of being alive at this moment in history – when both well-being and climate change are demanding our attention. 

Well-being Amid a Climate Change 

We don’t often talk about well-being and climate change in the same breath. 

After all, well-being and wellness conjure up positive images of early mornings at the gym, yoga on the beach, fancy green teas, meditation, breaks from social media, and a good night’s sleep. They are things we desire.

Climate change? Not so much. 

But as beneficial as efforts to boost our physical wellness and emotional and mental well-being are, their impact will be limited if we don’t also reckon with the reality of our changing world and learn how to relate to it better.

Here are three reasons why – and what we might do about it. 

1.    Climate Change Is the #1 Health Risk

In Lake Tahoe, California, where I live, I saw air quality hit 810 AQI last month– more than five times what is considered unhealthy for the general population. The sun was orange for days. The smoke in the air was as visible as tainted fog. A brief walk with my dog left me smelling like an ashtray. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified climate change as “the single biggest health threat facing humanity.” 

And this threat is unfolding in real-time. We’ve seen it in increasingly fierce hurricanes like last month’s Hurricane Ian. In historic floodings, like that which left one-third of Pakistan under water the month before. And the drought-fueled wildfires in the western U.S., Europe, and Australia erupting summer after summer.

There is also a suite of other silent but deadly health impacts, including a rise in heat-related illnesses, cardiopulmonary illness, and food, water, and vector-borne diseases. 

There are emotional and mental impacts, as well. 

2.    Climate Change Is Fueling Negative Emotions Worldwide 

There appears to be as little doubt that climate change is driving negative emotions as there is evidence that burning fossil fuels is driving climate change.

In a widely reported study published in Nature last year, researchers asked 10,000 young people in 10 countries, including the United States, how they felt about climate change and government responses.

Nearly 60 percent said they felt “very worried” or “extremely worried” about climate change, and 45 percent said their feelings about it impacted their daily lives. The most common words used to describe those feelings were sad, afraid, anxious, angry, and powerless. 

In a more recent study, researchers examined emotional responses to climate change in 32 countries – and found evidence of anxiety, worry, and fear everywhere. More than half (in some cases, significantly more than half) of those surveyed in Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and Portugal said they were extremely worried. In Brazil, 73 percent of respondents said so. (The U.S. was omitted.) 

Perhaps surprisingly, studies have also shown that people don’t need to have had a direct experience of climate change to experience negative emotions.

Given the trajectory of climate change, it doesn’t take a giant leap to imagine such negative emotions continuing to grow.

3.    Our Mental Health Could Already Use a Little Help

Climate change aside, mental health issues have been rising for years. Worldwide, according to the WHO, they increased by 13 percent from 2007 to 2017. 

Since COVID, these numbers have exploded. In America, an estimated 1 in 5 adults experienced a mental health issue during 2019-2020, according to Mental Health America. In England, the estimate is 1 in 4. It has also been recognized that young people are experiencing record-high levels of mental illness.

This has led to a growing concern about well-being in workplaces and schools. Add the emotional impact of escalating climate change into the mix, and it’s reasonable to conclude we’re intensifying what is already a pressure cooker situation. 

So, what now? 

Opportunities to Foster Well-being for a Changing Climate

I’ve spent the past 15 years exploring how we can relate more wisely to the realities of our changing climate. And there is much I will write about this in the weeks and months ahead. Some of these strategies stem from personal experience, many from interviews with hundreds of parents and experts.

I know we can expand connect well-being insights to the fast-changing world we live in. But for now, I would simply like to suggest that several platforms exist for addressing our need to take a more comprehensive look at wellness and well-being.  

According to the most recent report from Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness industry is valued at $4.4 trillion. That’s money spent on weight loss, healthy eating, physical activity, personal care and beauty, therapy, medicine, and the like. 

And in recent years, alarmed by growing rates of burnout and mental illness, a growing number of workplaces have made mental and emotional well-being a top priority – or, as the Wall Street Journal put it, “a workplace touchstone. After all, a lack of well-being is not only bad for people; it’s bad for productivity and profitability. 

So, why not seize these efforts to start having conversations about the impact of climate change? Many employees, consumers, and stockholders already urgently want businesses to do more to address climate change.

They don’t want just talk, of course. But in the case of an issue as complex as climate change, talking is a critically important step.

It also might us find common ground in the steady middle, where we can embrace one of the healthiest of all practices, balance.

I am referring to the kind of balance that comes from not choosing to focus on well-being at the exclusion of climate change or climate change at the exclusion of well-being. We need the kind of balance that comes from learning how to wisely navigate the relationship between the two.

This is extreme thriving.