Facing an Existential Threat: An Exploration of the Lived Experience of Emerging Adults During the Time of the Global Climate Crisis

Abstract

This phenomenological study explored how emerging adults (aged 18–29) live and make sense of the climate crisis. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, the research examined how participants understood, felt, and made meaning of the climate emergency, with particular attention on mental health implications. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed idiographically and across cases to identify shared patterns of experience. Results indicated that knowledge of ecological disruption was primarily shaped through digitally mediated and algorithmically filtered information, contributing to a sense of ongoing exposure. Accounts reflected cognitive, affective, and somatic layers, with young adults describing anxiety, overwhelm, and difficulty regulating the intensity of their responses. Opportunities where these concerns could be openly discussed were described as limited, leaving many to navigate them in isolation. These findings suggest that the global climate crisis is carried as an ongoing inner and relational condition during emerging adulthood, potentially shaping identity formation, emotional life, and perceptions of the future. This investigation highlights the need for clinical and peer-based spaces that can support the integration of climate-related distress and for more accessible ways of addressing these realities within psychological practice.