Sunday, June 28, 2026

Climate-anxious youth from poorer countries “unheard” due to digital disconnection

As rising temperatures around the world trigger climate-related anxiety, new research shows that those most in need of mental health support may be cut off from it.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Queen Mary University of London

image:
Huts in the Androy region of Southern Madagascar offer little protection from extreme heat
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Credit: Queen Mary University of London

Young people from the lower-income countries most vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis, including the toll it takes on their mental health, are being “overlooked” because their lack of internet access prevents them from taking part in research and accessing online support, a new study has found.

The study, published in the BMJ Mental Health, builds on a paper published last year highlighting high rates of climate-related anxiety and depression among young people in Southern Madagascar. The researchers found adolescents were struggling with uncertainty about the future, the loss of household resources and disruption to their coping mechanisms.

One young person from the Bongolava region told the researchers: "If there’s extreme heat… people get worried because their yearly harvest determines their future. And if that’s compromised, your future is too, because you haven’t produced enough, and that leads to a lack of means to prepare for the next year. It breaks your heart because you realise the climate is changing."

Now, the new paper shows that the voices of these young people risk not being heard. The researchers found that the communities most harmed by climate change are the least able to participate in the online research designed to study that harm, because they tend to lack reliable electricity supplies and internet connectivity.

Isabelle Mareschal, Professor in Visual Cognition at Queen Mary University of London, who worked on the paper, said:

“Since the Covid-19 pandemic, so much has moved online. That includes a great deal of mental health research and support.

“Analysing publicly available data on climate vulnerability and internet access, we show that the most climate-vulnerable populations also have the least access to the internet. Not only does that make it more difficult for them to access mental health support online, but it also means they may be excluded from the very research that seeks to understand their situation. This means that the evidence base used to develop policy or interventions may not be adequately developed for the people who need the most help.”

Dr Nambinina Rasolomalala from the Catholic University of Madagascar added:

“Climate and mental health is just one, particularly timely, example of this problem. Whilst online testing has undoubtedly been advantageous in extending the range of groups and populations taking part in research, this trend has an equity cost as well, skewing the evidence towards richer, better-connected populations.”

ENDS

People and cattle seek shade in Southern Madagascar

People and cattle seek shade together under a tree in Southern Madagascar

Credit

Queen Mary University of London

Journal

BMJ Mental Health

DOI

10.1136/bmjment-2025-302344

Article Title

Unheard voices: the overlooked mental health toll of climate change in vulnerable communities

Article Publication Date

22-Jun-2026

WSU study explores environmental cost, perceptions of influencer PR gifts

Washington State University

PULLMAN, Wash. — As part of their marketing strategy, many companies send public relations packages full of curated products to social media influencers, who film themselves opening the gifts on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

While such “PR unboxings” promote the brand, they also produce a lot of waste — which goes virtually unmentioned by those posting comments on the videos, according to new research from Washington State University. The findings, published in the Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, suggest influencers have an opportunity to educate consumers about excessive packaging and hold companies accountable when their packaging practices don’t match their “green” rhetoric.

“Sustainability values in influencer marketing are often communicated silently through a company’s packaging practices,” said Ting Chi, the study’s corresponding author and chair of WSU’s Department of Apparel, Merchandising, Design and Textiles (AMDT). “Influencers are receiving an increased amount of PR gifts with excessive packaging, but there seems to be minimal consumer awareness of how much waste is being generated. We hope this study will help educate consumers, influencers, and brands about environmental impact.”

A relatively new phenomenon, PR gifting is driven mainly by younger generations, who prefer to learn about products through social media influencers.

“Influencers can impact their followers by promoting certain behaviors,” said Chi, who co-authored the study with AMDT graduate students McKenzie Duqaine, Joshua Mollel, and Juan Doria. “If influencers neglect environmental sustainability considerations in their unboxing videos, consumers won’t see it as a priority. Likewise, if they discuss how they’ll redistribute those gifts or describe the amount of packaging as unnecessary, that could have a very positive influence on their followers in relation to sustainability.”

The study focused solely on fashion and beauty brands, which rely heavily on influencers to effectively market their products.

To avoid the influence of algorithms based on existing preferences or searches, the researchers created a new TikTok account. Using search terms such as “PR haul,” “PR unboxing” and “PR sustainability,” they gathered and analyzed a sample of 131 public, unsponsored videos posted by U.S.-based fashion and beauty brands during a yearlong timeframe.

After analyzing more than 34,000 user comments, they discovered that less than 1% mentioned packaging sustainability.

“We were surprised that such a small percentage of videos and consumer comments included sustainability considerations,” Chi said. “Many brands use influencer marketing while claiming to be sustainable, but their behavior suggests the opposite. These findings indicate that excessive packaging has been normalized and that environmental impact is not a consideration for many brands and consumers.”

He added that the research could help increase consumer awareness, hold brands accountable, and support the development of policies that restrict excessive packaging and encourage the use of recyclable, biodegradable, or plastic-free materials.

Studying a larger geographical area, longer posting timeframe, and additional social media platforms are among the opportunities for increasing the research’s scope.

“We’d like to conduct a cross-cultural comparison that includes other countries or perhaps explore what types of products tend to have excessive packaging and which tend to have better regulated, more sustainable packaging,” Chi added.

He also emphasized that consumers may have more control over the behavior of brands and influencers than they realize.

“It’s important for consumers be clear about their expectations,” Chi said. “If they demand a more proactive approach to sustainability, brands and influencers will likely pay attention.”

DOI

10.1002/fcsr.70055

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Sustainability signaling through PR gifting to social media influencers: A brand perspective

Emissions from plankton help in forming cloud seeds over the world's oceans

University of Helsinki

CERN CLOUD chamber — image:
The study was conducted in the controlled environment of the CLOUD chamber in CERN
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Credit: Jiali Shen

For nearly fifty years, scientists have suspected that microscopic marine plankton play a role in cloud formation over the oceans. Now, an experiment led by the University of Helsinki has suggested that it may be more important than previously thought.

Marine plankton release dimethylsulfide (DMS) during photosynthesis — the gas responsible for the characteristic smell of the sea. When oxidised in the atmosphere, DMS forms acidic vapors.

One of these is methanesulfonic acid (MSA). The CERN CLOUD experimentOpens in a new tab has shown that this previously overlooked gas can trigger the formation and growth of aerosol particles over cold, pristine ocean regions. Moisture can condense around these aerosol particles, eventually forming clouds. Since this mechanism is not accounted for in current climate models, the experimental results not only deepen our understanding of the atmosphere, but also improve the accuracy of climate models.

The experiment was conducted under realistic atmospheric conditions in the CERN CLOUD chamber. The chamber's controlled environment made it possible to measure how cloud seeds form and grow under the ultra-low concentrations and cold temperatures typical of remote marine air — from +9 °C down to −52 °C.

As effective as sulfuric acid in cold marine air

When the chamber temperature fell below −10 °C and even a trace of ammonia was present, MSA formed new nuclei just as effectively as sulfuric acid, which is considered the primary driver of atmospheric aerosol formation.

When mixing freely, sulfuric acid and MSA reinforced one another by forming shared molecular clusters. MSA also accelerated rapid particle growth across the entire temperature range studied. This combination helps fragile nanometre-sized particles survive long enough to grow to a size at which they can seed clouds.

"Because MSA and sulfuric acid generally occur at similar concentrations over cold ocean regions, clouds may form there up to ten times faster than previously thought", says one of the lead authors, DrJiali Shen.

This helps explain the surprisingly high number of particles observed over the Southern Ocean and in the cold marine upper troposphere.

Implications for clouds and climate

Aerosol particles influence the climate by scattering sunlight and by acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), which seed the clouds.

In general, a higher concentration of CCN leads to a cooling effect on the climate system. Accurately predicting CCN concentrations is therefore essential for improving projections of future climate change. However, current climate models underestimate CCN concentrations over the Southern Ocean by more than half. This introduces a warm bias into the models.

The team's global simulations show that incorporating MSA increases particle and CCN concentrations most strongly over the cold, pristine ocean regions surrounding the Arctic and Antarctic — precisely the areas where models currently fall short.

"As emissions of sulfur dioxide from fossil fuels continue to decline, the natural, biological sources of cloud seeds from marine plankton may be more effective in the climate system. Capturing these processes is essential if we are to reliably predict future climate", say Dr Xu-Cheng He and Professor Katrianne Lehtipalo, corresponding authors of the study.

"This study also underlines the importance of continued investment in cutting-edge measurements and modelling to improve future climate predictions", says Professor Tuukka Petäjä, Director of the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR) at the University of Helsinki.

Journal

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-026-10810-2

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Role of methanesulfonic acid in atmospheric particle nucleation and growth

Article Publication Date

24-Jun-2026

Supporting ecosystem monitoring: SELINA publishes two new policy briefs on ecosystem pressures and condition

Pensoft Publishers

Two new policy briefs were developed within the SELINA project, a product of the “Derive a minimum set of key ecosystem condition indicators per ecosystem type” task, providing a framework for monitoring ecosystem pressures and recovery across the European Union.

The policy briefs contribute to SELINA's efforts to support evidence-based environmental decision-making by developing practical tools for ecosystem assessment and policy implementation.

“Prioritising EU Environmental Action: The Human Pressure Index as a Spatial Decision-Support Tool” presents the Human Pressure Index (HPI), a tool designed to identify where ecosystems are most at risk from human pressures and where environmental action may be most effective. By combining information on multiple pressures into a single spatial framework, the HPI supports the targeting of conservation, restoration and management efforts across the European Union.

Building on this perspective, the second brief, “Measuring What Matters: A Minimum Set of Ecosystem Condition Indicators for EU Environmental Policy”, focuses on ecosystem condition and recovery. It presents a harmonised approach to monitoring ecosystem condition across the European Union, helping assess whether ecosystems maintain their structure, biodiversity and resilience over time while supporting consistent environmental reporting and assessment.

Together, the two policy briefs support evidence-based decision-making and the implementation of key EU policies, including the Nature Restoration Regulation, Biodiversity Strategy 2030, Common Agricultural Policy, Water Framework Directive and Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Both publications are available through the SELINA Zenodo community, ensuring open access to SELINA-supported scientific outputs and contributing to the project's commitment to making scientific knowledge accessible to policymakers, practitioners and researchers across Europe.

Perovskite solar cells: Predictions of long-term stability

Predictions are still difficult, but now, scientists know which methods might give better results.

Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie

Carolin on the roof — image:
The HZB-team runs an outdoor laboratory in Berlin where a great variety of solar cells are exposed for months and years to real-world conditions.
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Credit: Industriefotografie Steinbach/ HZB

Reliable statements about the long-term stability of perovskite solar cells are still difficult to make. However, a new study by Dr Carolin Ulbrich’s team, published in the renowned journal Joule, highlights which methods are useful for this purpose and identifies areas where further research is needed.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) could conquer the mass market within a few years, perhaps even being produced in Europe. Their large-scale production is highly cost-effective, and unlike silicon solar cells, their production is less energy intensive. However, perovskite solar cells ideally need to achieve decades-long warranties, which remains a challenge. To assess their long-term stability, various test methods are used to accelerate ageing. But how accurately do these methods reflect the actual degradation processes? A new study in Joule by a team led by Dr Carolin Ulbrich (HZB) and Andreas Bartelt (HTW Berlin) now answers this question.

Natural degradation mechanisms

In the study, naturally aged perovskite solar cells were compared with 'artificially aged' perovskite solar cells. First, the team identified three key degradation mechanisms in PSCs that had undergone 20 months of natural ageing in HZB’s outdoor laboratory in Berlin under real-world conditions. The most significant of these is phase segregation, whereby the compositional changes in perovskite material lead to the formation of circular domains a few micrometres in diameter. The other two mechanisms are copper corrosion and edge patterns, which are primarily related to cell design. In the laboratory, they subjected newly produced PSCs to various accelerated ageing processes and investigated how well the three observed degradation phenomena could be replicated.

How to accelerate the aging process?

A very common method to accelerate the aging processes is to keep the samples at elevated temperatures (65-85 °C). In a previous study, the group demonstrated that this method triggered an additional degradation mechanism that is not observed at lower temperatures or in outdoor-aged samples. As a result, the group turned to alternative methods for accelerating degradation.

Aging under 2.3 suns

Degradation phenomena can also be intensified by increasing the light intensity or by varying the electrical bias. ‘Increasing the light intensity from one sun to 2.3 suns accelerates all three degradation mechanisms while preserving the spatial trends observed outdoors, thus enabling ageing in fast-forward,’ says Ulas Erdil, first author of the study. However, whilst different bias voltages (aging under open-circuit condition) also promote phase segregation, they simultaneously affect the spatial extent of copper corrosion and the formation of edge patterns, meaning that the degradation is no longer representative of the real-world degradation.

A useful tool

As this study further shows, reliable lifetime predictions through accelerated ageing tests currently remain challenging. ‘However, they are useful tools for the rapid screening of new materials or cell designs and can therefore help to advance the development of perovskite technology,’ says Erdil.

‘We do not yet have the perfect solution for reliably predicting long-term stability,’ emphasises Carolin Ulbrich. ‘But we are one step closer; we now know that more intense light is one key parameter for accelerating the ageing process.’

Three key degradation mechanisms were observed in PSCs that had undergone natural ageing in HZB’s outdoor laboratory in Berlin. The most significant of these is phase segregation (left), whereby the compositional changes in perovskite material lead to the formation of circular domains a few micrometres in diameter. The other two mechanisms are copper corrosion (middle) and edge patterns (right), which are primarily related to cell design.

Credit

HZB

Journal

Joule

DOI

10.1016/j.joule.2026.102538

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

From Outdoor to Accelerated Aging: Replicating Spatially Non-Uniform Degradation Modes in Perovskite Solar Cells

Article Publication Date

24-Jun-2026

Growing up gets less scary with time, research finds

Millennials feared adulthood more than Gen Xers and baby boomers – but those fears diminished over time

American Psychological Association

WASHINGTON – As young adults, many millennials feared growing up more than past generations. But they’ve come around to it as they age, finds research published by the American Psychological Association.

The study, published in the journal Developmental Psychology, examined how “maturity fears” – the fear of growing up and desire to return to the safety of childhood – changed among college students between 1982 and 2002, and then among those same cohorts 20 years later. Overall, the researchers found that later generations of college students feared growing up more than their predecessors. However, among all the generations, those fears abated as the participants grew older.

“Our findings suggest that fears about growing older are not necessarily fixed; they appear to decrease for many people as they gain experience navigating adult roles and responsibilities,” says study author April Smith, PhD, of Auburn University. “At the same time, more recent generations of college students consistently reported higher maturity fears, which suggests that broader societal factors like economic uncertainty, social pressures and concerns about the future may be shaping how young people view adulthood.”

Smith and her colleagues examined data from 1,200 total college students collected in 1982, 1992 and 2002. The survey asked participants to rate their agreement with statements such as “I wish that I could return to the security of childhood” and “The happiest time in life is when you are a child.” Overall, among both men and women, college students in 2002 (millennials) had significantly higher levels of maturity fears than those in 1992 (Generation X), and the 1992 college students had higher levels than college students in 1982 (baby boomers).

The participants then answered the same questions 20 years later (in 2002 for the baby boomers, 2012 for the Generation X students, and 2022 for the millennials). The researchers found that maturity fears decreased with age among almost all the cohorts, for both men and women – the only exception was the 1982 men. That decrease was much steeper for the younger cohorts compared with the older ones, so that all of the generations had more similar levels of by midlife.

That could be because, in general, people’s fears tend to abate through exposure to the feared outcome – in this case, aging – according to Smith. Young adults may fear aging in part because they view it as something out of their control, and those fears may subside as people gain security and financial independence and successfully navigate the responsibilities of adulthood.

The biggest unanswered question, according to Smith, is why newer generations reported higher maturity fears in the first place.

“Our study shows that these cohort differences exist, but it doesn’t tell us exactly what’s driving them. Future research should examine the role of factors such as economic uncertainty, climate concerns, major societal disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic, and the growing influence of social media,” she says. “If people perceive the future as increasingly uncertain, it would make sense that growing older might feel more daunting than it did for previous generations.”

Article: “Employing a cohort-sequential design spanning 30 years to understand trajectories of maturity fears,” by April Smith, PhD, Auburn University; Sarrah I. Ali, MS, Thomas Joiner, PhD, and Pamela K. Keel, PhD, Florida State University; Lindsay Bodell, PhD, University of Western Ontario; Marisol Perez, PhD, Old Dominion University; and Kathryn H. Gordon, PhD Equip Health. Developmental Psychology, published online June 25, 2026. Journal

Developmental Psychology

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Article Title

Employing a Cohort-Sequential Design Spanning 30 Years to Understand Trajectories of Maturity Fears

Article Publication Date

25-Jun-2026