Climate Outrage vs Optimism

Introduction

Almost every day we’re confronted with the reality of climate change and the changing natural world. This can spark all sorts of emotions across the spectrum, from fury to resolute optimism and everything in between. Understanding our emotions around climate change is vital in managing them. Just like any other emotion, these feelings have the potential to help or hinder, both in terms of general well-being and specifically around taking climate action, personally and collectively. According to a 2021 PEW poll, over 70% of Gen. Z individuals reported climate change as one of their biggest political and social concerns. The most studied manifestation of this concern is “eco-anxiety” or fear and dread induced by thinking about the state of the natural world. Beyond eco-anxiety, this post looks to discuss two less often talked about, but no less important, environmentally-driven emotions: climate optimism and climate outrage.

What Is Climate Optimism? What About Climate Outrage?

Climate Optimism

The basis of these emotions may seem clear–it's in the name. Climate optimism has to do with feelings of hope concerning climate change and the natural world. Focusing on what is being done and what can still be done to stop things from getting worse or help them get better. It’s often associated with climate joy, or reveling in the natural world and the successes of climate action, both great and small. To those who are a bit more cynical, this often sounds like an excuse to ignore the reality and gravity of the situation at hand. However, Marcy Franck of Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and editor of The Climate Optimist newsletter encourages us to think about it this way: climate optimism is just a shift of focus, learning to see the changes that have already been made and understanding that while more work needs to be done, there is a lot that is still possible (Why We Can Be Optimistic About Climate Change, 2023). Even now, some of the apocalyptic scenarios from just a few years ago have been avoided thanks to wide-scale climate efforts. 

Another angle is this: climate hope is at an all-time low in a time of great and unprecedented climate action. Why is that? Climate optimism offers this question: why borrow grief from later in life? Why feel it twice, when things aren’t yet written in stone? Franck discusses the role the media plays in creating this disconnect. In 2022, media coverage in the United States related to the climate was 40% focused on disaster coverage. For comparison, only 6% of coverage discussed the Inflation Reduction Act, a historic and monumental investment in climate action (Franck, 2023). Further than just conventional media, bad news tends to spread further and faster on social media. Our brains instinctively fixate and better recall negative events, known as the Negativity Effect. 

Climate Outrage

This brings us to another surprisingly common eco-emotion alongside climate optimism: climate outrage. We see it in climate protests and strikes, impassioned speeches, and the everyday frustration that bubbles up going through the world and reading the news. Climate outrage has to do with feelings of frustration, anger, or annoyance at the state of actions being taken about climate change, or actions that contribute to climate change. Research has shown that climate outrage is one of our most productive climate emotions alongside climate optimism (Stanley et al., 2021). Feelings of anger have been shown, comparatively to such emotions as climate anxiety and eco-depression, to have a positive impact on well-being, attributed to the fact they’re also the most likely to inspire collective action, leading to the satisfaction of the feeling of doing something about what’s making you angry (Gregersen et al., 2023). Climate outrage often stems from the lack of action on the part of others, whether that’s being frustrated at politicians and their inaction (the most common form), or frustrated at the lack of change visible in the behavior of others. This is also why figures in the climate movement so often use it in their platform: Greta Thurnberg and her speeches, telling politicians, “I want you to panic,” or former UN Climate Chief Christiana Figueres stating “We have to keep the outrage really high because we are so darn late,” (Niranjan, 2023). Anger is known to inspire action without leaving people paralyzed by fear or helplessness like a traditional fear tactic might. 

Why Does It Matter?: Achieving Healthy Balance

So why does this matter? What good does it do to talk about these feelings so many often feel except to potentially make people feel more anxious? Experiencing any of these emotions in excess can be detrimental to well-being, and lacking any can also have negative effects. Like many things, managing our emotions around the natural world and climate change is complicated, and takes a level of self-awareness that may be uncomfortable to achieve at first. Too much climate optimism can lead to ignorance, purposely ignoring difficult truths. While constant optimism may seem well on the surface, “toxic positivity” can result, or the feeling that you (and often others) aren’t allowed to feel negative emotions, you must always be optimistic. Which, often inevitably, leads to burnout. 

Just as detrimental and perhaps more clearly seen are the effects of focusing too fully on eco-anger. An excess of climate anger can lead to cynicism and hopelessness, feeling overwhelmed and helpless. Anger on its own will eventually burn out just the same as eco-optimism. Neither emotion can sustain someone on its own, not in day-to-day interactions and certainly not regarding climate change. There is room for the two to supplement each other, though. Anger has the strongest correlation to action, which can work to bring change, no matter how small, and inspire a feeling of optimism or satisfaction, the feeling that comes from doing something and seeing it affect the people around you.

Conclusion

Climate emotions are a natural and necessary part of the experience of simply existing in a natural world, especially one changing so rapidly around us. They’re a necessary part of being involved in the climate movement. As such, it’s important to understand these emotions and know how to balance them. Burnout, cynicism, and helplessness are all very real risks when entrenched in the world of climate news, and they can all harm wellbeing and action. Caring for the self and mind must come first in something so long-term and constant–otherwise, you’ll have nothing left to give. Whether it’s feelings of optimism and joy, or anger and frustration, both emotions can inspire action and change just as easily as they can lead to complacency, so a sense of self-awareness surrounding these feelings is vital in personal care and continued activism.