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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>March 29, 2020</b></font></i></p>
[shock]<br>
<b>EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws amid coronavirus</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://hill.cm/tAiiy9H">http://hill.cm/tAiiy9H</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1243415226147471360">https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1243415226147471360</a>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>[Mental Health]<br>
<b>Climate Change's Hotter Days Will Take Toll on Mental Health</b><br>
March 25, 2020<br>
U.S. News & World Report<br>
By Amy Norton<br>
HealthDay Reporter<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
In particular, the study found, hotter days seemed to have a
greater effect on people who were already struggling with poorer
mental health.<br>
<br>
"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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Susan Clayton, a professor of psychology at the College of Wooster
in Ohio, was an author of the APA report.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
"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."<br>
<br>
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?"<br>
<br>
Researchers correlated those responses with daily temperature data
for U.S. counties.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
It's also likely that income and resources -- like access to
air-conditioning -- matter, according to Li.<br>
<br>
"That's something we believe deserves more investigation," she
said.<br>
<br>
Clayton said that while broad efforts are needed to address
climate change, it's also important to recognize that individuals
can be "resilient."<br>
<br>
"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."<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
She also recommended checking up on others during heat waves,
especially the elderly or other vulnerable people.<br>
<br>
"Social connections are a good source of resilience," Clayton
said.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-03-25/climate-changes-hotter-days-will-take-toll-on-mental-health">https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-03-25/climate-changes-hotter-days-will-take-toll-on-mental-health</a><br>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[Digging back into the internet news archive]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming -
March 29, 2016 </b></font><br>
The New York Times reports:<br>
<blockquote>"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."<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/29/science/heat-wave-predictions-weather.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/29/science/heat-wave-predictions-weather.html</a><br>
<br>
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