Copyright Peter Dejong/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved Share this article Comments This article was originally published in Polish Anger, resignation, guilt – according to recent research, emotions felt about climate change have a significant impact on our climate decisions. Today, almost every region of the world is affected by human-induced climate change. Researchers from the M. Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology at the Polish Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Department of Psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and SWPS University, have investigated the impact of emotions on pro-climate actions. The results of the research are promising. Some of the main culprits for accelerated climate change are large corporations and political decision-makers. However, by changing global behaviour in a social context, political choices can be significantly influenced. Sadness over climate change has its own word: Solastalgia People have been feeling climate change “here and now” for some time, according to Dominika Zaremba, a psychologist, psychotraumatologist and PhD student at the Nencki Institute in Warsaw. This is why climate anxiety is not as straightforward as you might This worry causes a range of emotions close to a sense of loss. This kind of sadness and stress, caused by climate change, is called ‘ solastalgia ‘. It’s a peculiar feeling of mourning, which Dominika Zaremba compares to losing someone close to you. “Seeing trees wither away makes people feel a sense of mourning like after a loss,” says the scientist. She recalls a study that looked at how individuals felt about climate change. The respondents came from all walks of life, including different ages and social groups. The most profound experience of grief affected participants with a broader view of the climate, but also older people who remember a very different landscape of their youth. […]