Without admitting any complicity by the media in causing unnecessary panic over climate alarmism, MSNBC's Ana Cabrera on Friday devoted a segment to a new study showing most young people seriously worried about the future. One guest even blamed global warming skeptics for making people worried while the other thought the stress might be a good motivator to take action.
Even though it is believed that the Earth was hotter in the past, Cabrera claimed that it has been the "hottest summer in Earth's history" as she set up the segment by linking climate change to recent extreme weather:
And let's turn now to the deadly impacts of climate change impossible to ignore in the leadup to the 2024 election from the hottest summer in Earth's history to flooding from Hurricanes Milton and Helene that wiped out entire towns killing at least 275 people in the last month. There are still dozens that are missing. The candidates for President striking very different tones on the issue of the climate crisis.
After clips of presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump speaking about the issue, the MSNBC host continued: "Initial data already links man-made climate change to those extreme weather events, and now a new study shows climate change is hurting not just the environment but also the mental health of 85 percent of young people."
Cabrera turned to Dr. Lise Van Susteren (sister of Greta Van Susteren), a climate activist who ran as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate in Maryland in 2006. Cabrera asked: "You worked on this specific study, and there are some stark numbers in their -- 60 percent of 16 to 25-year-olds feel anxious, powerless or angry about the climate. Tell us more about your findings."
Van Susteren informed viewers: "They're suffering -- 60 percent of kids feel that they are doomed -- more than half are not thinking that they are going to be able to make choices about their lives, where they live, whether they'll have kids, et cetera."
A bit later, as she spoke with MSNBC contributor Dr. Vin Gupta, he suggested that global warming skeptics are causing worry for young people because they disagree with liberals:
CABRERA: Is it because a lot of young people feel so powerless and there's so much uncertainty?
Dr. GUPTA: To some extent. And here we're seeing an older demographic of leaders vociferously disagree on whether climate change is real or not, and that makes a lot of people in younger demographics feel powerless...
Dr. Van Susteren concluded by suggesting that a silver lining might be that young people can pressure their parents on the issue, garnering approval from the MSNBC host:
Dr. VAN SUSTEREN: ... our children want us to listen to what's happening so that it can drive the empathy that is going to be necessary to establish the sustained change because we cannot talk about this in a partisan way. It isn't a partisan issue. It's about taking care of our children who are suffering and I'll say one thing and also that is very positive, is I have seen when parents feel their children are threatened, they can be unstoppable. And our message to parents today, listen to your kids. Validate what they're saying, and take action.
CABRERA: I love that. That's such a powerful way to end this.
Transcript follows:
MSNBC Reports
October 18, 2024
1:41 p.m. Eastern
ANA CABRERA: And let's turn now to the deadly impacts of climate change impossible to ignore in the leadup to the 2024 election from the hottest summer in Earth's history to flooding from Hurricanes Milton and Helene that wiped out entire towns killing at least 275 people in the last month. There are still dozens that are missing. The candidates for President striking very different tones on the issue of the climate crisis.
AUDIO OF KAMALA HARRIS, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: If you track the way that this is all happening, it's getting worse.
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The real global warming that we have to worry about is nuclear. The waters coming up an eighth of an inch for 300 years -- the ocean is going to rise and, you know, nobody knows if that's true or not.
CABRERA: Initial data already links manmade climate change to those extreme weather events, and now a new study shows climate change is hurting not just the environment but also the mental health of 85 percent of young people. Let's dig into this with Doctor Lisa Van Susteren, clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral health at George Washington University and co-founder of Climate Psychiatry Alliance; and MSNBC medical contributor Doctor Vin Gupta, affiliate assistant professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. It's great to have you both here. Such an interesting discussion to be had. Doctor Van Susteren, you worked on this specific study, and there are some stark numbers in their -- 60 percent of 16 to 25-year-olds feel anxious, powerless or angry about the climate. Tell us more about your findings.
Dr. LISA VAN SUSTEREN, GEORGE WASHINGON UNIVERSITY: Well, this survey really shows something that we as professionals have been seeing now for many years. And the statistics are confirming, corroborating what we've been seeing. And they're very important because they do bring some shock value that breaks through all of the noise of the other things that are going on. But what really hurts beyond these numbers which won't necessarily stay in our minds, but it's the stories that these statistics tell on an individual basis in our kids. They're suffering -- 60 percent of kids feel that they are doomed -- more than half are not thinking that they are going to be able to make choices about their lives, where they live, whether they'll have kids, et cetera. It's just so highly unjust, and we had to do something about it.
CABRERA: Dr. Gupta, you and I have talked about the physical impacts of environmental changes, but when we're talking about the connection between climate and mental health, how do you see it?
Dr. VIN GUPTA, MSNBC MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah, you know, I'm delighted and so thankful to Dr. Van Susteren and her team for putting the study out there because, Ana, to your point, what we've talked about is the physiological impacts to your heart, to your lungs, the air you breathe, the heat you feel, but there is the mental health impacts. And there's a silver lining here from this study that hopefully, as we move to a new generation of leaders, that there's going to be more political consensus. And this is not a partisan issue for younger generations. These feelings that this study elicited -- anxiety, irritability, frankly the impacts on mood, increased rates of depression. These are things that we're seeing whether or not you are an identified Democrat or a Republican.
And that's critical, Ana, because we're seeing, you know, in the state of Washington, as an example -- your home state -- there is an effort to roll back the Climate Commitment Act. This is the initiative 2117, and this focus here is on climate and health -- the impacts of climates on human health. That's the most persuasive argument we're finding when we're trying to convince voters, "Hey, this is something you have to tell voters you have to think about not just when it comes to talking about climate change in the abstract, but in how it impacts your actual body. And that's what's really resonating with people. We need to talk more about this.
CABRERA: Yeah, the psychology piece, I guess. Is it because a lot of young people feel so powerless and there's so much uncertainty?
Dr. GUPTA: To some extent. And here we're seeing an older demographic of leaders vociferously disagree on whether climate change is real or not, and that makes a lot of people in younger demographics feel powerless, and it concerns me that a lot of people say they don't want to have a -- end up having a family because of what they're seeing all around them. And so those impacts, especially heat, Ana -- Phoenix just had three straight weeks of record-breaking heat every single day from, I think, the middle of September until yesterday. That is having direct impacts on mood, irritability, but, as we're seeing now, it's actually having triple impacts and it is having impacts on mental health.
CABRERA: And you mentioned that there are still those climate deniers, including 23 percent of our current congressional representatives, according to the Center for American Progress. Doctor Van Susteren, this study shows climate anxiety in young people across party lines, and that's actually aligned with a group of young conservative climate activists who are pushing for bipartisan climate action. Take a listen to their founder here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that there's this frustration for most Americans about this issue being partisan. Even if they feel like the left's ideas suck or the right has abandoned it, and they're all, you know, climate deniers, I think most people, no matter how frustrated they are with either side on this issue can agree that this issue has been hijacked by partisanship.
CABRERA: Do you think young people like that have a real shot of changing the game and making this nonpartisan?
Dr. VAN SUSTEREN: I think that depends a lot on how we message this because, yes, we could talk about the statistics, but, again, it's what lies behind this which is that we want to evoke a sustained feeling that's -- we don't have to talk about partisanship. This is science, certainly statistics, but it's also about having compassion, empathy and the desire to take care of our children who have said, "You're not listening."
So, for us, the message that we're trying to drive home, is many of us have children -- your children, my children, all children, our children want us to listen to what's happening so that it can drive the empathy that is going to be necessary to establish the sustained change because we cannot talk about this in a partisan way. It isn't a partisan issue. It's about taking care of our children who are suffering and I'll say one thing and also that is very positive, is I have seen when parents feel their children are threatened, they can be unstoppable. And our message to parents today, listen to your kids. Validate what they're saying, and take action.
CABRERA: I love that. That's such a powerful way to end this.
