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PHOTOGRAPH BY DON ARNOLD, GETTY
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By Robert Kunzig, ENVIRONMENT Executive Editor
Not long ago Nature reported a disturbing study of the world’s youth—a survey of 10,000 people age 16 to 25, from 10 representative countries, for their feelings about climate change.
Some 75 percent said the “future is frightening.” Fear was more common in poorer, more vulnerable countries—but according to the study, 46 percent of young Americans, and 56 percent of youth worldwide, think that “humanity is doomed.” (Pictured above, protesters during a Climate Change Awareness rally in Sydney.)
Leave aside for now whether the forecast is accurate. Isn’t it heartbreaking that so many young people believe it?
In September, Alejandra Borunda and I spoke with two astute observers of the climate problem, atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe and writer Katharine Wilkinson. You can read excerpts here. Over the weekend, when news came in of the oil spill off southern California, I found myself thinking about something Hayhoe had said (pictured below, oil threatens Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach, California).
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