(MENAFN) Climate change is not only transforming natural environments and human activities but is also having a psychological impact on those who investigate it, according to a recent survey by Swissinfo of climate scientists in Switzerland.

Almost three-quarters (72%) of the 80 climate researchers who participated in the survey, published on Friday, reported feeling emotionally influenced by their work or by the progression of the climate crisis. Within this group, 41% experience these feelings "occasionally," while 31% feel them "several times a week."

Only a small portion, 6%, stated that they do not encounter any notable emotional response.
"I'm very concerned about the medium-term consequences of climate change. I have a daughter, and I wonder what kind of world she will live in," Pierre Vollenweider, a forest ecology researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, shared with Swissinfo.

The majority of the scientific community believes that keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels—the most ambitious target of the Paris Agreement—will be unachievable.

"Discouragement and sadness prevail when I consider what has been done politically," Sonia Seneviratne, a climate expert at ETH Zurich, remarked.

Nevertheless, she added, "I was more pessimistic 20 years ago because we didn't have solutions. Today, we do, even though it’s frustrating to see how difficult it is to make decisions that would be entirely rational."

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