Climate change has affected me by causing me mental harm as I feel anxious about the long-term effects that it might have on everyday Australians.
Taylors Lakes, VIC
Hi, my name is Chantal and I am currently a first year university student. Climate change is something I am very passionate about and I have made this clear by participating in the School4Climate protests that happened in Melbourne CBD.
Climate change has affected me by causing me mental harm as I feel anxious about the long-term effects that it might have on everyday Australians. In 2021, during my final year of high school, climate change became a very topical issue at my school. It was evident that the government was not doing enough to help eliminate climate harm and we were informed about its seriousness. After doing my own research and diving deep into the issue, I felt so upset about the reality of the situation. Looking around the world there are so many examples of climate harm and its consequences on quality of life. I feel very fortunate to live in a country like Australia where our quality of life is a lot better, and our overall contribution to climate harm is not as bad as other countries. However, I feel very strongly that Australia needs to do better to set an example for other nations. We do still contribute a large amount of overall carbon emissions and this is something that we can definitely remove.
When attending the School4Climate protests I felt happy that so many others felt as strongly about climate change as me and that there was definitely a sense of unity. However at the same time I could not help but feel distressed because despite so many of us rallying together, I feel that the government is not doing enough to fight climate change. I feel like we are not being heard and it is very frustrating because climate harm is a very real and pressing issue. I am also anxious about my own future and even starting my own family because right now I do not feel comfortable with how things are going to proceed.
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