PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: A study in Nature Climate Change links high temperatures to increasing mental and behavioral disorders, including schizophrenia, and warns of a further rise due to climate change.
👥 Who’s Involved: Researchers from the University of Adelaide conducted the study.
📍 Where & When: The Australian study was published in Nature Climate Change on Monday.
💬 Key Quote: Dr. Peng Bi claims, “From mild distress to serious conditions like schizophrenia, rising temperatures are making things harder for millions.”
⚠️ Impact: The study alleges there will be a 49 percent increase in mental health burdens by 2050 due to climate-related heat unless effective adaptations are made.
IN FULL:
A recent study by researchers at the University of Adelaide, Australia, claims that increasing temperatures significantly affect mental health. According to the findings published in Nature Climate Change, extreme heat is contributing to a rising incidence of mental and behavioral disorders, and the situation will worsen if the climate warms.
The research utilizes the metric of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) to estimate the mental health toll of rising temperatures. Currently, heat supposedly contributes to the annual loss of over 8,450 healthy life years in Australia, accounting for about 1.8 percent of the nation’s mental and behavioral disorder burden. The study claims this toll could rise by nearly 50 percent by 2050 if global temperatures increase.
Dr. Peng Bi, who led the research, alleges that high temperatures exacerbate conditions from mild distress to severe illnesses like schizophrenia. According to the study, approximately 8.6 million Australians could encounter a mental behavioral disorder at some point. Co-author Dr. Jingwen Liu claims, “Climate change will drive up mental health challenges beyond what population growth alone would cause,” and, “Young people, who often face these issues early in life, are especially at risk as the climate crisis worsens.”
The research models various scenarios, indicating a possible 49 percent increase in burden under a high-emissions pathway and up to 141 percent when factoring in population growth. It claims climate change policies could limit the increase. Notably, however, Western countries such as Australia now account for only a small percentage of global emissions, with the impact of net zero policies that have a punishing effect on households and businesses being wiped out by the increasing use of coal and other carbon-heavy fuels by the likes of China and India.
𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞! 🇮🇳
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With cutting-edge technologies and efficient methods, we’ve not only increased production but also ensured sustainable and responsible mining. This achievement will fuel… pic.twitter.com/KRGOBQ1SA7
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