Empirical evidence of mental health risks posed by climate change
Empirical evidence of mental health risks posed by climate change
Abstract
Sound mental health – a critical facet of human well-being – has the potential to be undermined by climate change. Few large-scale studies have empirically examined this hypothesis. Here we show that short-term exposure to more extreme weather, multiyear warming, and tropical cyclone exposure each associate with worsened mental health. To do so, we couple meteorological and climatic data with reported mental health difficulties drawn from nearly two million randomly sampled US residents between 2002 and 2012. We find that shifting from monthly temperatures between 25°C and 30°C to >30°C increases the probability of mental health difficulties by 0.5 percentage points, that 1°C of five-year warming associates with a two percentage point increase in prevalence of mental health issues, and that exposure to Hurricane Katrina associates with a four percentage point increase in this metric. Our analyses provide added quantitative support for the conclusion that environmental stressors produced by climate change pose threats to human mental health.
Press Coverage
Global Warming Will Hike Mental Health Woes: Study
As climate change worsens, mental health probably will too
Study gives depressing look at how climate change puts Americans’ mental health at risk
Climate Change’s Direct Contribution to Worsening Mental Health
Climate Change Impacts Can Worsen Mental Health Conditions
Climate Change Will Affect Mental Health As It Gets Worse, A New Study Shows
Health Highlights: Oct. 9, 2018
We Don’t Really Know How Stressed Americans Are About Climate
Mental Toll of Climate Change Hits Women 60% More
Global warming will drive up suicide rates, study warns: ‘Heat profoundly affects the human mind’
Climate Change Might Be Bad for Your Mental Health, Too
Study Quantifies Environmental Stressors’ Impact on Human Mental Health in the US
Study examines how climate change is stressing us out
Climate Change Is Going To Have Huge Effects On Health And Scientists Want To Change Policy To Prepare
Rising Temperatures Could Worsen Mental Health
Climate Change Is Bad for Our Mental Health
De la ecoansiedad a la solastalgia: así pasa factura el cambio climático a la salud mental
"Catastrophic" Effect of Climate Change on Mental Health Found in New Study
‘Catastrophic’ mental health changes tied to climate change, study says. What we know
Feeling Hot and Bothered
Study gives depressing look at how climate change puts Americans’ mental health at risk
Por qué el cambio climático también afecta negativamente la salud mental
As global temperatures rise, so will mental health issues, study says
We’re just beginning to understand the toll climate change takes on mental health
New study shows how depression rises with the temperature
Mental health issues linked to climate change
Climate change already causing increases in stress, depression and negative mental health, study shows
CLIMATE CHANGE IS BAD FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH
As Climate Change Increases, Our Mental Health Declines