大象传媒

This past spring, a colorful poster displayed a ring of emojis at a student table outside the cafeteria at Maritime and Science Technical Academy, a 6鈥�12 school in Miami. Called , the circle was divided into a rainbow of wedges for various emotions: anger in red, sadness in purple, fear in green, positivity in blue. The poster also included a QR code for students to complete a survey about their feelings related to climate. 

Sophomore Sophia Bugarim remembers taking the survey. To the first question鈥斺�淒o you experience any of these climate emotions?鈥濃�擝ugarim answered 鈥渇ear.鈥� The next question narrowed down the four core emotions into more specifics. This time Bugarim selected 鈥渨orry.鈥� 

鈥淚 feel worried that one day I鈥檒l be in a situation where I have to leave my house, and I鈥檒l come back and have no idea what it will look like,鈥� says Bugarim, who recalled her survey answers on an October day when school had been canceled due to the possibility of storm water surge and high winds. While Miami was not in Hurricane Milton鈥檚 path, Bugarim wonders how soon the city will be in the path of another storm. 鈥淭hese storms are getting worse. There was a hurricane last week in Tallahassee. Next week gets me worried. It鈥檚 very unpredictable.鈥�

Sebastian Navarro, who manned the table as sustainability ambassador during his senior year, thinks students at Maritime and Science Technical Academy probably learn about climate change more than others in the district due to the school鈥檚 focus on maritime sciences. He says students visit the reefs just offshore from the beachside school. But that classwork is focused on cognitive learning, not discussion about feelings. 

On the climate emotions survey, when given options for what worries them most about climate change, about one-third of students said sea level rise. Another third said biodiversity loss and coral bleaching. 

Sarah Newman, executive director of the , says climate change adds another layer of mental health risk for youth and can deepen existing inequities. In 2021, Newman founded the Network to provide solutions beyond traditional therapy, which can be cost-prohibitive and faces ongoing provider shortages. 

She sees the climate emotions wheel as a supplement to mental health therapy and believes schools are a key place to . This is a stark contrast with the conservative Project 2025, which aims to erase climate change from public education and the federal government entirely. Newman sees the importance in grassroots solutions to support individuals and communities impacted by the changing climate, regardless of what鈥檚 happening in Washington, D.C. 

鈥淗aving climate anxiety is a normal response to the climate crisis, so if you respond to what is a societal issue with an individual approach, you鈥檙e isolating someone鈥檚 experience to a clinical setting,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 a collective experience, the process of navigating our climate emotions, managing them, and healing needs to be done in community with others.鈥� 

A New Tool

Multiple reports suggest there is plenty of room for improvement to deepen climate content across subjects and add more social and emotional learning in public schools in the United States. On the , Florida received a D for its lack of climate change content in state science standards. The center graded 20 states at no higher than a C+, while 21 states, which all use the Next Generation Science Standards, received a B+.

Then in 2022, the North American Association for Environmental Education found in one subject in addition to science (usually social studies), and only 10% of climate change content addressed the socio-emotional learning dimensions of the crisis.

A led by the American Psychological Association and others concurs that more school-based and health-system solutions are needed. Newman sees the climate emotions wheel as a tool that educators everywhere can begin using now. It鈥檚 a bottom-up approach that can skirt the obstacles being thrown up in institutions and governments at all levels.

Finnish environmental theologian Panu Pihkala, who popularized the idea that 鈥溾�� is a more useful term than 鈥渃limate anxiety,鈥� consulted with the Climate Mental Health Network to create the climate emotions wheel. It is now available in 30 languages, including Spanish, Kiswahili, and Bengali, and used in a variety of settings.

鈥淓verything about the school day is a learning experience. It鈥檚 not just the curriculum being directed by the teacher,鈥� said Michele Drucker, who heads the Miami-Dade County Council Parent Teacher Association environmental committee.

Drucker also ran a sustainability ambassador program in local high schools, which Navarro completed during his lunch hours. Navarro invited students to enter a drawing for completing climate actions such as bringing a reusable water bottle, using for uneaten food at lunch, and eliminating single-use plastics. This is also where Navarro shared the climate emotions wheel, which he says received a lot of engagement and seemed to bump up participation in the weeks that followed.

Navarro says the wheel helped generate hallway conversations about climate, too, as peers asked each other: 鈥淲hich emoji are you?鈥�

Climate Emotions in the Classroom

In other schools, teachers are adding the climate emotions wheel to their coursework.  

鈥淥ne of the biggest problems with climate education is not a lack of knowledge,鈥� says Kimberly Williams, a science teacher at Smithtown High School West on Long Island in New York. She began integrating emotional support into her climate change units a few years ago. She says her classes would start the year 鈥渄iscouraged and apathetic,鈥� and that 鈥渋t鈥檚 easy for the students to feel 鈥榯here鈥檚 nothing I can do, so I should do nothing.鈥欌��

Williams tasked her students with using the paint tool on a tablet to shade portions in a circle representing the degree to which they were feeling a climate emotion. A guide then and evaluate their own strengths and possible contributions to climate solutions.

Williams concedes that most science teachers do not include this kind of social and emotional learning into their lessons: 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 see the two as interwoven, and I don鈥檛 see the two as something you can separate.鈥�

Williams says in her district, most teachers only 鈥渄ance around the subject鈥� in an effort to avoid the politics of climate change. To her, that indicates that teachers aren鈥檛 connecting it to students鈥� lives. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e showing a graph,鈥� not saying, 鈥溾�榃hy do you think that is?鈥� or 鈥榃hat we can do about it?鈥欌��

In nearby New York City, , but most only dedicate a few hours per year. A , which died at the end of the 2024 legislative session, would have mandated that all grades and subject matters include climate.

This bill would have addressed mental health, as well, said Elissa Teles Mu帽oz, the K鈥�12 programming manager for the Climate Mental Health Network, at a recent . 

鈥淲hen there is climate education 鈥� it does need to include safeguards for youth mental health,鈥� said Mu帽oz, who helped write the bill with the National Wildlife Federation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not responsible to drop a bomb on a child鈥檚 brain.鈥�

Growing Support From the Grassroots

The climate emotions wheel relies on grassroots leaders鈥攖eachers, parents, or others鈥攖o find ways to implement it, which may limit its reach and impact.

Some teachers may not feel supported to include the exercise. Susan Clayton, a conservation psychologist who studies K鈥�12 climate education, considered teacher surveys alongside local politics. She found that teachers from states where school or government leaders oppose climate education felt more anxious. For example, the 7% of teachers in Clayton鈥檚 sample who were from Florida reported significantly higher levels of climate anxiety.

But Clayton found that when teachers perceived parental support for climate education, they were more likely to talk to students about climate emotions. 

In Miami-Dade public schools, Drucker is bolstered by how the PTA can bypass some state or district politics with grassroots action at schools. She advocated for years for systems-level climate action, though Florida schools lack state support for fully embracing climate action. And that obstacle is only getting worse: that strikes the phrase 鈥渃limate change鈥� from state law entirely.

Newman also believes there鈥檚 power in hyperlocal action. One of the climate emotions wheel鈥檚 strengths may be that it empowers students. 

For Williams鈥� part, she includes the climate emotions exercise to help students move toward action. At the end of her courses, she asks students to complete the survey again and asks what they would modify from their earlier responses. One student updated the colors in the wheel and said she felt a little more empowered to take her own actions once she wrote them down.

Navarro says he is still working through climate emotions, but he feels encouraged by peer support in the environmental clubs at his school. 鈥淵ou have the opportunity to advocate for different causes,鈥� he says. Recently, students acted on their concerns by advocating for and landing the district. Navarro says it feels good to know that 鈥測ou鈥檙e actually making a difference.鈥�