Scientists who endorsed the Iowa Climate Statement for 2024 say even simple changes like biking to work or school can help spur climate action in others and reduce climate anxiety. (Photo by Perry Beeman/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Scientists at Iowa universities and colleges have endorsed an annual climate statement informing Iowans about individual actions that can help solve the climate crisis, like making energy efficient updates, working with community members and talking about sustainability.
This was the first time the statement, which began in 2011, focused on individual action. Some of the 184 scientists and professors who endorsed the statement said they felt it was a good way to address the mounting climate anxiety they sense in their students.
“It helps you become part of the solution,” said David Courard-Hauri, professor of environmental science and sustainability at Drake University. “That can be a major benefit in avoiding some of the despair that we definitely see when we talk to students and other people, where you feel like you have no control.”
The climate statement referenced a 2021 survey of 10,000 young people (aged 16-25) from 10 different countries. Fifty percent responded they felt sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty about climate change and government response.
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Peter Thorne, a professor of occupational and environmental health at the University of Iowa, said during a virtual press conference about the statement that his students question having children and their future financial stability because of the climate and a perceived lack of response by older generations.
“Many students question what climate change will mean to their future,” Thorne said. “They feel that they’ll be displaced by global warming and climate disasters, perhaps throughout their life.”
Thorne said making individual action, while it’s not the only solution to climate change, helps people feel more in control of the situation and become engaged in efforts to change more institutionalized contributions to climate change.
“We recognize that big change is needed … but engagement on the larger stage often begins with individual and collective actions at the local level,” the climate statement reads.
Another part of individual action, Thorne said, is asking political candidates about their plans to protect the climate and reduce carbon emissions.
William Gutowski, professor emeritus of meteorology at Iowa State University, reiterated the need for climate action as Iowa records increasingly hot winters, warmer temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico lead to tropical storms and a melting glacier shifts the border between Switzerland and Italy.
Courard-Hauri said it’s important to distinguish that the statement is not putting the blame, or responsibility, on individuals. He said this made several scientists who normally endorse the climate statement hesitant to sign this year.
“They were afraid that the message would come across as, ‘individuals should be responsible for addressing climate change,’” Courard-Hauri said. “There are a whole bunch of benefits that come from individual action, but it’s not going to solve the climate crisis by itself – it needs to be part of a larger strategy.”
The statement pointed to increased incentives that make energy-efficient upgrades, like electric vehicles, rooftop solar, or updated appliances, more affordable.
The researchers also stressed the importance of engaging with a community around sustainability issues and being passionate about making sustainable choices.
“When people see what you’re doing, it can get people interested,” Courard-Hauri said.
Making these changes can benefit Iowans financially, physically and mentally, the statement said. It also gets folks on board with believing in and fighting climate change.
“One of the things that gets in the way of believing in (climate change) is if we feel like there’s nothing we can do about it, if we feel like there’s just no solution, then we defensively imagine it must not be true,” Courard-Hauri said. “Individual action can also get you a little bit over that hump.”
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