Nothing only that he’s right to be scared and that it’s way too late to change what’s coming. Too many people don’t believe in climate change and too many ultra rich ones keep not giving a shit about it. It’s unavoidable…

Help them locate resources that are working on solutions.

Energy grid storage news, low emission building, DIY stuff have all been mood savers for me.

At the end of the day, we are all going to die. Our species is going to die. If it's next year because Yellowstone erupts and blots out the sun, or next week because Russia decides to go full MAD, or millions of years from now because interstellar travel lanes collapse...all we can do is the best we can with what's in front of us.

For me, now, that means thinking about what I can do without. It means having a bug out bag to know I can tough out a day or two away from home. It means having emergency plans in place and other options for rolling with the punches. It also means looking out for the others around me and trying to build networks that look out for each other.

I believe the world is falling apart, but I think we have an opportunity to fall gracefully and maybe, if we are lucky, we can pass something on to the future that might grow into something new. The end likely won't be worldwide cataclysm, so imo the best thing to do is to prepare to be mobile in a crisis.

"You had a good run.. ok well you didn't, but you get what you're given."

That they don't owe the world anything. The people and systems around them have basically failed to ensure them a future, and therefore, they do not owe their time to any of these people or systems.

I tell mine that things will get worse before they get better. But we saw with the covid vaccine what can happen when countries and scientists work together. We will start to see more of those kinds of collaborations as it becomes more evident to the richest countries that there really is a problem that is escalating quickly. The current ramp up in forest fires, hurricanes, floods, droughts, etc will provide the impetus for policy makers to start implementing significant changes.

I'm sorry the comments in here mostly suck. It's hard as a parent dealing with climate anxiety in a teen. Don't deny what your teen is observing but give them some hope.

Edit: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/06/climate-change-charts-data-optimism/

That he's not going to die. If he knows about the "climate change", he's most likely from one of the countries that will be least affected by it.

People most affected are among those already fighting for survival, and climate change will add up to everything else, resulting in some of them losing that battle

Tell them that none of the scientists are suggesting they're going to die from climate change, that's coming from laymen repeating stuff with their own flair and farming engagement from them on tiktok.

It's a global emergency and will have negative impacts, but anyone who acts like it's going to turn into mad max in their lifetime is just a doomer.

I’m concerned for that 17 year old, but I’m much more worried for my infant niece.

I apologise profusely as I tell my three 17 year olds the truth.

Alright, I’ll give it a go.

Capitalism doesn’t confer meaning into people’s lives. The standards of success in modern society are hallow and only feel good if you believe life itself starts and ends with your individual life. It doesn’t.

Humans will become migratory again, and it will feel good. Our sense of society will fall apart but the pain of that will be short lived. We are part of systems much larger than us and that’s good. We’ve forgotten how it feels to be fully alive. We’ve been side-tracked for a while. It’s been an experience but this experience has grown stale. Time to get back to our human lives. Our specialized jobs take us away from well balanced lives. To live and die is good. Have a meaningful life by living fully.

How’s that?

What did they tell the kids who were raised to duck and cover?

Depending where you are, they'll have to start that one again.

Link doesn't work for me, the captcha just reloads over and over. From the title I'd say, let them know the death won't be sudden, like a car crash or a meteor on the head. It will be a long drawn out process of social decay and collapse, followed by long slow suffering before getting to that point. Plenty of time to suffer before you die. I mean, unless the food wars and mass migrations don't shorten the trip.

Everyone dies. Do the best with what you got.

Fight back. If you are contemplating the fear of death from climate change, then the courage to fight those responsible should seem like a relativity small hill to climb.

"Theres some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for."

-- Samwise Gamgee

They should learn about stoicism.

If they live in the United States the odds they'll die by civilian owned firearms are far higher, and much more likely to happen over their lifetime, than climate change