Climate Change Awareness and Its Effects on Cognitive and Functional Abilities and Behavioral Responses: A Review of Literature

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.sidebar##

Published Jun 1, 2024
https://doi.org/10.61506/02.00242
Download
PDF
Statistic
Vol. 10 No. 2 (2024): Journal of Policy Research

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.main##

Ms. Saira Zaka
MPHIL research Scholar at University of Okara
Dr. Arfan Latif
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Okara
Mr. Muhammad Salman
Project Officer, College of ophthalmology and Allied Vision Sciences Lahore
Mr. Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad
MPhil Scholar, Department of Sociology, University of Okara

Abstract

Climate change awareness has been identified as a critical factor influencing various aspects of human cognition, functional capabilities, and behavioral engagement. This literature review explores the intersection of climate change awareness with cognitive and functional impairments, and how these factors collectively influence behavioral responses. Studies suggest that heightened awareness of climate change can lead to increased cognitive load, potentially exacerbating cognitive impairments, particularly in older adults and individuals with pre-existing cognitive deficits. Functional impairments, such as reduced physical mobility and mental health issues, have also been linked to the stress and anxiety associated with climate change awareness. Furthermore, the relationship between awareness and behavior is complex; while awareness can lead to proactive environmental behaviors, it can also result in maladaptive responses like eco-anxiety and climate inaction due to perceived helplessness. This review synthesizes current research to highlight the multifaceted impacts of climate change awareness and underscores the need for targeted interventions to support cognitive and functional health while promoting positive behavioral engagement.

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.details##

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite
[1]
Zaka, M.S. , Latif, D.A. , Salman, M.M. and Ahmad, M.H.M. 2024. Climate Change Awareness and Its Effects on Cognitive and Functional Abilities and Behavioral Responses: A Review of Literature. Journal of Policy Research. 10, 2 (Jun. 2024), 353–360. DOI:https://doi.org/10.61506/02.00242.
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

References

  1. Aikens, K., McKenzie, M., & Vaughter, P. (2016). Environmental and sustainability education policy research: A systematic review of methodological and thematic trends. Environmental Education Research, 22(3), 333–359. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2015.1135418 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2015.1135418
  2. Blais, A., & Rubenson, D. (2013). The source of turnout decline: New values or new contexts? Comparative Political Studies, 46(1), 95–117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414012453032
  3. Boluda-Verdú I, Senent-Valero M, Casas-Escolano M, Matijasevich A, Pastor-Valero M. Fear for the future: Eco-anxiety and health implications, a systematic review. J Environ Psychol. 2022;84: 101904. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.jenvp.2022.101904 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101904
  4. Brulle, R. J., Carmichael, J., & Jenkins, J. C. (2012). Shifting public opinion on climate change: An empirical assessment of factors influencing concern over climate change in the U.S., 2002– 2010. Climatic Change, 114(2), 169–188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0403-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0403-y
  5. Busch, K. C., Ardoin, N., Gruehn, D., & Stevenson, K. (2019). Exploring a theoretical model of climate change action for youth. International Journal of Science Education, 41(17), 2389–2409. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2019.1680903 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2019.1680903
  6. Butler, G., & Mathews, A. (1987). Anticipatory anxiety and risk perception. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 11, 551-65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01183858 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01183858
  7. Chang, C. P., Harr, P. A., & Chen, H-J. (2005). Synoptic disturbances over the equatorial South China Sea and western Maritime Continent during boreal winter. Monthly Weather Review, 133, 489-503. http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/MWR-2868.1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-2868.1
  8. Chawla, L., & Cushing, D. F. (2007). Education for strategic environmental behavior. Environmental Education Research, 13(4), 437–452. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504620701581539 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504620701581539
  9. Clayton S, Karazsia BT. Development and validation of a measure of climate change anxiety. J Environ Psychol. 2020;69:101434. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101434. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101434
  10. Clayton S, Manning CM, Krygsman K, Speiser M. Mental health and our changing climate: impacts, implications, and guidance. American Psycho logical Association and ecoAmerica: Washington, DC. 2017. ‏https://www. apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/03/mental-health-climate.pdf.
  11. Corner, A., Roberts, O., Chiari, S., Völler, S., Mayrhuber, E. S., Mandl, S., & Monson, K. (2015). How do young people engage with climate change? The role of knowledge, values, message framing, and trusted communicators. WIREs Climate Change, 6(5), 523–534. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.353 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.353
  12. Costello, A., Abbas, M., Allen, A., Ball, S., Bell, S., Bellamy, R., ... Patterson, C. (2009). Managing the health effects of climate change. Lancet, 373, 1693-733. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60935-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60935-1
  13. Czarnek, G., Kassowska, M., & Szwed, P. (2020). Right-wing ideology reduces the effects of education on climate change beliefs in more developed countries. Nature Climate Change DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-00930-6
  14. Daeninck C, Kioupi V, Vercammen A. Climate anxiety, coping strategies and planning for the future in environmental degree students in the UK. Front Psychol. 2023;14:1126031. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023. 1126031. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1126031
  15. Dodds J. The psychology of climate anxiety. BJPsych Bulletin. 2021;45(4):222–6. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2021.18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2021.18
  16. European Commission. (2019). Special Eurobarometer 490 - Climate Change. European Union.
  17. Fritze, J. G., Blashki, G. A., Burke, S., & Wiseman, J. (2008). Hope, despair and transformation: climate change and the promotion of mental health and wellbeing. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 2(1), 13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1752-4458-2-13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-4458-2-13
  18. Gardner, G. T., & Stern, P. C. (2002). Environmental problems and human behavior (Second Edition). Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing.
  19. Geller, E. S. (2002). The challenge of increasing pro-environment behavior. In R.B. Bechtel & A. Churchman (Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology (pp. 525-540). New York: Wiley.
  20. Hajek A, König HH. Climate Anxiety and Mental Health in Germany. Climate. 2023;11(8):158. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11080158 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11080158
  21. Hornsey, M. J., Harris, E. A., Bain, P. G., & Fielding, K. S. (2016). Meta-analyses of the determinants and outcomes of belief in climate change. Nature Climate Change. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2943
  22. Johnson, B., & Činčera, J. (2015). Examining the relationship between environmental attitudes and behaviour in education programmes. Sociální Studia / Social Studies, 12(3), 97–111. https://doi.org/10.5817/SOC2015-3-97 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5817/SOC2015-3-97
  23. Kuthe, A., Keller, L., Körfgen, A., Stötter, H., Oberrauch, A., & Höferl, K. M. (2019). How many young generations are there? A typology of teenagers’ climate change awareness in Germany and Austria. The Journal of Environmental Education, 50(3), 172-182 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2019.1598927
  24. Lee, T. M., Markowitz, E. M., Howe, P. D., Ko, C.-Y., & Leiserowitz, A. A. (2015). Predictors of public climate change awareness and risk perceptions around the world. Nature Climate Change. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2728
  25. Leiserowitz A, Carman J, Buttermore N, Wang X, Rosenthal S, Marlon JR, Mulcahy K. International public opinion on climate change. Yale program on climate change communication. 2021. Retrieved from: https://clima tecommunication.yale.edu/publications/international-public-opinion- on-climate-change/.
  26. Leiserowitz, A. (2009). Global Warming Six Americas 2009: An Audience Segmentation Analysis. Yale Project on Climate Change.
  27. Luís, S., Vauclair, C.-M., & Lima, M. L. (2018). Raising awareness of climate change causes? Crossnational evidence for the normalization of societal risk perception of climate change. Environmental Science & Policy, 80, 74–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2017.11.015 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2017.11.015
  28. Lukacs JN, Bratu A, Adams S, Logie C, Tok N, McCunn LJ, Lem M, Henley A, Closson K, Martin G, Gislason MK, Takaro T, Card KG. The concerned steward efect: Exploring the relationship between climate anxiety, psy chological distress, and self-reported climate related behavioural engage ment. J Environ Psychol. 2023;90:102091. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp. 2023.102091. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102091
  29. Metag, J., Füchslin, T., & Schäfer, M. S. (2015). Global warming’s five Germanys: A typology of Germans’ views on climate change and patterns of media use and information. Public Understandng of Science, 1-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662515592558
  30. Ogunbode CA, Doran R, Hanss D, Ojala M, Salmela-Aro K, van den Broek KL, Karasu M. Climate anxiety, wellbeing, and pro-environmental action: Correlates of negative emotional responses to climate change in 32 countries. J Environ Psychol. 2022;84:101887. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jenvp.2022.101887.
  31. Rawat A., Kumar D., Khati BS. A review on climate change impacts, mod els, and its consequences on diferent sectors: a systematic approach. J Water Climate Change. 2023:jwc2023536. https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc. 2023.536.
  32. Rhead, R., Elliot, M., & Uphamc, P. (2018). Using latent class analysis to produce a typology of environmental concern in the UK. Social Science Research. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.06.001
  33. Sevä, I. J., & Kulin, J. (2018). A little more action, please: Increasing the understanding about citizens’ lack of commitment to protecting the environment in different national contexts. International Journal of Sociology, 48(4), 314–339. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207659.2018.1515703
  34. Shi, J., Visschers, V. H. M., Siegrist, M., & Arvai, J. (2016). Knowledge as a driver of public perceptions about climate change reassessed. Nature Climate Change, 6(8), 759–762. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/10.1038/nclimate2997 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2997
  35. United Nations Development Programme. Climate promise: a youth-led guide to climate action. 2020. Retrieved from https://www.undp.org/ content/undp/en/home/librarypage/climate-and-disaster-resilience-/ climate-promise--a-youth-led-guide-to-climate-action.html.
  36. Walinski A, Sander J, Gerlinger G, Clemens V, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Heinz A. The Efects of Climate Change on Mental Health. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2023;120(8):117–24. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.m2022.0403. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.m2022.0403
  37. Zacher H, Rudolph CW. Environmental knowledge is inversely associated with climate change anxiety. Clim Change. 2023;176(4):32. https://doi. org/10.1007/s10584-023-03518-z DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-023-03518-z