hardhat – unsupported engine issue (plz help!)

unsure what to do regarding an "unsupported engine" issue as i'm trying to install hardhat.

npm WARN EBADENGINE Unsupported engine {
npm WARN EBADENGINE package: 'hardhat@2.9.3',
npm WARN EBADENGINE required: { node: '^12.0.0 || ^14.0.0 || ^16.0.0' },
npm WARN EBADENGINE current: { node: 'v17.9.0', npm: '8.5.5' }
npm WARN EBADENGINE }