[TheClimate.Vote] March 29, 2020 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/*March 29, 2020*/

[shock]
*EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws amid coronavirus*
http://hill.cm/tAiiy9H
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1243415226147471360


[Mental Health]
*Climate Change's Hotter Days Will Take Toll on Mental Health*
March 25, 2020
U.S. News & World Report
By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, March 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- As the days heat up, 
people tend to report more emotional distress, a new study finds, adding 
to concerns that global warming could take a growing mental health toll.

The study of more than 3 million Americans found that the longer people 
had to sweat out 80-degree days, the bigger the mental health drain. 
They were more likely to report problems with depression, stress and 
emotional control -- especially when the heat stretched to 10 days or more.

Anyone who has a short fuse during heat waves might be unsurprising. But 
researchers said the findings add to evidence that climate change could 
have a concerning impact on our collective mental well-being.

In particular, the study found, hotter days seemed to have a greater 
effect on people who were already struggling with poorer mental health.

"We show that people with poorer mental health are particularly affected 
by temperature. So they would also be particularly vulnerable under 
climate change," said lead researcher Mengyao Li.

Li, who was a doctoral candidate at the University of Georgia in Athens 
at the time of the study, and her colleagues reported the findings in 
the March 25 issue of the journal PLOS ONE.

In recent years, studies have examined the mental health fallout of the 
"extreme weather events" that are expected to become more common with 
climate change -- from prolonged droughts and wildfires, to hurricanes 
and floods. In the short term, those disasters typically fuel a spike in 
mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress 
disorder and substance abuse.

In 2017, the American Psychological Association (APA) published a report 
on the issue. At that time, studies indicated that anywhere from 7% to 
40% of natural disaster survivors develop some sort of mental health 
pathology.

Susan Clayton, a professor of psychology at the College of Wooster in 
Ohio, was an author of the APA report.

As it stands, she said, there is far more research on the physical 
health effects of climate change and its manifestations, like heat 
waves. But there is growing interest in the mental health consequences, 
Clayton said.

Why would hot days take a toll? Research suggests that heat exposure can 
increase aggressive behavior in some people, Clayton said. Plus, she 
added, it may affect moods more indirectly -- through poorer sleep, for 
example, or by keeping people indoors.

"People may be less likely to go outside, and time outdoors is good for 
your mental well-being," Clayton said. "And they may get less exercise, 
which also benefits your mental health."

For the study, Li's team used data from an ongoing government health 
survey, for the years 1993 to 2010. It gauged people's mental well-being 
with this question: "Thinking about your mental health, which includes 
stress, depression and problems with emotions, for how many days during 
the past 30 days was your mental health not good?"

Researchers correlated those responses with daily temperature data for 
U.S. counties.

Compared with a "comfortable" temperature range of 60 to 70 degrees 
Fahrenheit, people's ratings of their mental health declined as the days 
heated up -- particularly beyond 80 degrees and when the heat lasted for 
10 days or more, the study found.
On average, for each additional day above 80 degrees, the likelihood of 
reporting a bad mental health day in the past month rose by 0.3%. In 
contrast, those odds dipped when temperatures dropped below 20 degrees.

Of course, individuals vary in whether they are vulnerable to heat 
stress, Li said. And the researchers found that people who reported 
"frequent" mental distress were more likely to report heat-related problems.

It's also likely that income and resources -- like access to 
air-conditioning -- matter, according to Li.

"That's something we believe deserves more investigation," she said.

Clayton said that while broad efforts are needed to address climate 
change, it's also important to recognize that individuals can be 
"resilient."

"This doesn't mean we're all doomed to have poor mental health," she 
said. "It's a reminder that we need to be prepared."

That might mean, for instance, communities ensuring air-conditioned 
public spaces for people who need them, which can lessen the physical 
health threats from heat waves, Clayton said, adding that the mental 
health benefits are unknown.

She also recommended checking up on others during heat waves, especially 
the elderly or other vulnerable people.

"Social connections are a good source of resilience," Clayton said.
https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-03-25/climate-changes-hotter-days-will-take-toll-on-mental-health



[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming  - March 29, 2016 *
The New York Times reports:

    "Deadly summer heat waves in the eastern United States may be
    predictable nearly two months before they occur, giving emergency
    planners and farmers more time to prepare, scientists reported on
    Monday."

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/29/science/heat-wave-predictions-weather.html


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