Many people now suffer from “climate anxiety.” However, according to a new survey, fear-mongering has lost its effect as a growing number of Americans are more concerned about the economy than the climate.

While public opinion of climate change and support for policies have increased over the last decade, it’s important to note that media and political discourse play a significant role in shaping these opinions. Many are still uncertain, with some suggesting it’s another way for governments to increase taxes. 

The simple fact is, it is still unclear as to the true extent of our conflicting data, which does exist to some degree, pushed by groups of scientists like the C02 Coalition, who argue more carbon dioxide is a good thing. However, it’s important to note that the majority of scientific consensus supports the view that human activities are contributing significantly to climate change. 

While some argue it’s best to refocus energy on reducing pollution, such as plastic waste and pesticide use, others are more firm in their approach and argue we must stop all fossil fuel use by 2030 if we want to save Earth for future generations. It’s the latter group who tend to also suffer from climate-induced anxiety. 

According to data from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, “Overall, 7% of American adults are experiencing at least mild levels of climate change psychological distress.”

“We see that a lot of young people are saying, I think my life will be worse than my parents’ lives,” said Dr. Sarah Schwartz, a professor of psychology at Suffolk University in Boston.

Results from the survey indicate that nearly 60% of young adults claim they are very worried about climate change. As much as 45% also said, “their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily life and functioning.”

The survey suggests it is difficult to focus on the problems surrounding climate change when daily hardships centered on finances are currently leaving many struggling to get by in the US. 

When the results were calculated, many researchers were shocked to observe that “climate change” was near the bottom of the list, with only around 45% considering it “very important.”

The Americans who participated in the survey placed more importance on issues such as (82%), inflation (79%), and crime (65%), which makes sense. The Laconia Daily Sun claims, “When real problems arise, fake ones tend to fade.”

The poll results speak very clearly: Americans are more concerned about their overall finances and the rising costs they’ve been experiencing for several years than what the government has to say about climate change.

“Which is why, when the countries of the world came together to define an objective, the best they could come up with was to not surpass an overall global temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels from the year 1900,” the Laconia Daily Sun wrote.

“Despite constant harassment and taxation of their citizens under the climate change pretex,” wrote The Laconia Daily Sun. 

They continued, “Clearly have no idea what they’re doing. Their argument is that they just haven’t governed hard enough yet or taken enough of your money. How convenient.”

Over 50% of those who participated in the YouGov survey claim that no matter who is elected president of the US in November, neither’s policies will significantly improve the problems associated with climate change.

As the Laconia Daily Sun puts it, “Because who’s going to say no to the government taking less of your money?”

According to the results, Americans were most concerned with “ regulations to reduce toxic chemicals in drinking water.” Over 70% of the participants labeled this important, and it has nothing to do with the Earth’s climatic problems. 

“Judging by the YouGov poll, much of the American public is getting wise to climate change nonsense, as well, which is rather remarkable considering the incessant global propaganda,” wrote the New Hampshire-based newspaper.

According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, climate anxiety can stem from a direct experience of “extreme weather events” or from “Exposure to climate change information through news media.”

“For instance, there could be a federal carbon tax, as Canada’s Liberal Party Prime Minister Justin Trudeau foisted upon Canadians, and which has contributed to massive inflation as the tax is factored into every part of the supply chain.“

However, the data was collected using an AI program which scanned “over 7.4m tweets posted by roughly 1.3 million people on the social media platform X (previously Twitter) between 2017 and 2019,” according to The Guardian. 

“Over half of the tweets we looked at simply denied that climate change was real, that it was a hoax,” said Newell,

“It wasn’t surprising, but it was disappointing, I would hope that more and more Americans would believe in climate change and the importance of addressing it,” he said. 

As the US remains politically divided, it appears the varying opinions on climate change will also remain. While a portion of the population sees it as of the utmost urgent, others believe its nothing more than a scam implemented to increase taxes.