The DOI matches its Crossref record; 134 of the 135 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Toward a Taxonomy of Climate Emotions
Open accessAbstract
There is a growing evidence that emotions shape people's reactions to the climate crisis in profound but complex ways. Climate emotions are related to resilience, climate action, and psychological well-being and health. However, there is currently a lack of research about the array of various climate emotions. There is also a need for more integration with general research about emotions. This article conducts a preliminary exploration of the taxonomy of climate emotions, based on literature reviews and philosophical discussion. The term emotion is used here in a broad sense, as is common in climate emotion research. Because of the urgency of the climate crisis and the lack of previous research, this kind of exploration is aimed to be helpful for both practical climate work and for future research which would include more systematic reviews of the topic. Research items which discuss at least five different climate emotions, based on empirical observations, are used as major sources and a table about them is provided. Climate emotions are discussed on the basis of interdisciplinary research. The article considers many aspects of the phenomena of climate anxiety and climate grief.
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“Feelings of belonging, togetherness and connection not only support capacity for nature-connection but may also provide a basis for caring about climate-related matters (Stoknes, 2015; Pihkala, 2022), providing systems-informed opportunities for connecting wellbeing with major societal challenges such as the climate emergency.”
From The Complex Construct of Wellbeing and the Role of Vagal Function (2022) · cites this paper as Pihkala, 2022
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Cites
Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines
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Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., Clayton, S., Lewandowski, R. E., Mayall, E. E., Wray, B., Mellor, C., & van Susteren, L. (2021) · The Lancet Planetary Health · doi:10.1016/s2542-5196(21)00278-3 · Cited by 2,324 · cited 10×
“A few existing, broad surveys of climate emotions are used as references to the existence of many of these climate emotions (especially Hyry, 2019; Hickman et al., 2021), but it was not possible in this research to evaluate the prevalence or statistics related to these emotions.”
BackgroundInfluentialClimate anxiety: Psychological responses to climate change
Clayton, S. (2020) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102263 · Cited by 1,409 · cited 2×
“The concept and phenomenon of climate anxiety is closely related to this (Clayton, 2020; Pihkala, 2020a).”
BackgroundEcological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss
Cunsolo, A., & Ellis, N. R. (2018) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/s41558-018-0092-2 · Cited by 1,408
Solastalgia: The Distress Caused by Environmental Change
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Development and validation of a measure of climate change anxiety
Clayton, S., & Karazsia, B. T. (2020) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101434 · Cited by 1,196
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Anxiety and the Ecological Crisis: An Analysis of Eco-Anxiety and Climate Anxiety
Pihkala, P. (2020) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su12197836 · Cited by 978
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Cited by
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Lawrance, E. L., Thompson, R., Newberry Le Vay, J., Page, L., & Jennings, N. (2022) · International Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/09540261.2022.2128725 · Cited by 500
“Importantly, although many emotional and psychological responses to the climate crisis appear to be globally-relevant, responses are also likely to be culturally dependent (340).”
BackgroundInfluentialEco-anxiety: What it is and why it matters
Kurth, C., & Pihkala, P. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.981814 · Cited by 321
“There is emerging scholarship about ecological aspects of these emotions (see Jensen, 2019; Fredericks, 2021; Pihkala, 2022), and that scholarship would benefit from integration with a philosophical and emotion research approach.”
BackgroundÁgoston, C., Csaba, B., Nagy, B., Kőváry, Z., Dúll, A., Rácz, J., & Demetrovics, Z. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph19042461 · Cited by 242
The Process of Eco-Anxiety and Ecological Grief: A Narrative Review and a New Proposal
Pihkala, P. (2022) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su142416628 · Cited by 256
Ágoston, C., Urbán, R., Nagy, B. J., Csaba, B., Kőváry, Z., Kovacs, K., Varga, A., Dúll, A., Mónus, F., Shaw, C. A., et al. (2022) · Climate Risk Management · doi:10.1016/j.crm.2022.100441 · Cited by 189
Metadata
- Authors
- Pihkala, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- Corresponding author
- Pihkala, Panu
- ORCID
- Pihkala, Panu
- Venue
- Frontiers in Climate
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2022-01-14
- Volume
- 3
- ISSN
- 2624-9553 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4206670862
- Cited by
- 471
- References
- 135
- Citations by year
- 2026: 121 · 2025: 137 · 2024: 127 · 2023: 55 · 2022: 31
- FWCI
- 125.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Climate (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Helsingin Yliopisto
- Suomen Kulttuurirahasto
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change Communication and Perception
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Environmental Philosophy and Ethics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Keywords
- climate emotions, climate anxiety, climate grief, climate crisis, psychological well-being, resilience, climate action
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