What is Change in Climate?
Continuous changes in weather patterns on Earth caused primarily by human activity, which includes the burning of fossil fuels as well as deforestation, are referred to as climate variability. This causes a gradual rise in global temperatures, which has a variety of environmental and socioeconomic repercussions. Excess greenhouse gas emissions, like carbon dioxide, keep heat in the earth’s atmosphere, causing the earth to overheat. Changes in precipitation are very likely to result from rising global surface temperatures, and changes in atmospheric moisture result from humidity.4
Why Psychological Health is Affected Due to Climate Change?
Owing to the complex and linked aspect of both the social and environmental impacts it has, climate change has an impact on mental health. First, climate change causes eco-anxiety, a feeling of future uncertainty and concern. Stress levels and mental anguish are raised as a result of the increasingly severe and unpredictable weather patterns, biodiversity loss, and general environmental deterioration.
Second, climate change causes a range of traumatic experiences. Communities are uprooted, houses are destroyed, and lives are lost as a result of natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. The trauma and anguish brought on by seeing or personally going through these events can result in PTSD, depression, and other psychological issues. The destruction of livelihoods, instability in the economy, and social unrest brought on by climate change all result in mental health issues and disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. It is understood a climate change had a negative influence on cognitive health through a number of risk factors, including deep grieving over lost ecosystems, species, and landscapes.3
Hidden Consequences of Changing Climate on Mental Health
The effect of climate change on psychological health is extensive and frequently underappreciated. Even if the immediate physical implications of climate change, like severe storms and displacement, are well known, the unnoticed repercussions on mental health are equally important. Below are mentioned some unintended consequences of the environment on mental/Psychological Health.
- Eco-anxiety
As the worldwide climate catastrophe gets worse, many individuals feel more stressed, anxious, and worried about the future. Eco-anxiety is influenced by the destruction of ecosystems, rising temperatures, and the potential for significant environmental consequences, which can lead to ongoing tension and other neurological disorders.
- Trauma and Sorrow
Individuals and communities affected by climate change-related disasters like hurricanes, floods, forest fires, and droughts may experience trauma and grief. Witnessing a person’s house being destroyed, losing a loved one, and having their surroundings uprooted can have long-lasting emotional consequences. There is no uncertainty that mental health/Psychological issues have a significant impact on mortality, disability, and healthcare systems. These implications have all been combined using disability-adjusted life-years, standardized death rates, and health care expenses.5
- Mass Displacement and Relocation
Climate change increases the frequency and severity of natural disasters, which causes more forced migration and relocation. When people are forced to leave their homes and communities, they may feel a sense of loss, a sense of detachment, and a sense of distress, all of which can affect their mental/Psychological health. The burden of mental disease is not shared equally across society; for instance, women are “nearly twice as likely to suffer from psychological disorders as men” internationally. People that have been displaced and forced to relocate are apparently significantly more likely to experience mental health issues compared to individuals who have had more control over when and where they freely shift to.6 Psychological
- Loss of Employment and Monetary Stress
The impacts of climate change on agriculture, fishery, and other sectors result in financial instability and economic suffering. Depression, anxiety, and other psychological disorders can be greatly impacted by the loss of income and concern about the future.Hunger, fires, and floods has become unusual and severe as a result of exacerbated climate variability. Long-term drought is a major element in the possible impacts of warming temperatures on rural mental/Psychological health.
Other weather-related catastrophes, such as drought, have the potential to destroy the social and economic foundations upon which farming communities rely over time. The socioeconomic deprivation of rural areas considerably increases the sensitivity to mental health/Psychological issues.2
- Increased Societal Disputes
As social inequality and disputes worsen as a result of climate change, tension, and instability rise. Social ties can be strained by resource competition, expulsion, and changing living conditions, which can result in elevated anxiety, stress, and even violence.
- Effects on Populations at Risk
Low-income communities, minority groups, and indigenous people are all disproportionately impacted by climate change. These groups frequently lack the assets required to be more vulnerable to cope with the consequences of climate change to mental health issues. Owing to natural disasters, which are more vulnerable to the impacts of inclement weather, such as the poor, the aged, and the disabled, youngsters, prisoners and drug addicts, have observed higher levels of psychological, physical, and mental strain.1
- The Decline in an Environmental Association
The relationship between people and the natural world can be severed as a result of biodiversity loss and the degradation of natural habitats. This separation can cause “nature-deficit disorder,” or feelings of isolation, loneliness, and a decreased sense of well-being.Over the past 40 years, as the earth has risen by more than 0.5 °C, natural disasters like floods, cyclones, droughts, and fires have gotten worse. These catastrophes are anticipated to due to climate change, has grown more common with sustained emissions. Extreme weather brought on by climate change, such as the Californian fires, is associated with high costs to human health.7
Conclusion
Finally, there are major and occasionally overlooked unintended consequences of climate change on mental health. One of the hidden effects that can have a significant influence on people is the loss of environmental connection. Other hidden repercussions include trauma, movement, financial hardship, social conflicts, and eco-anxiety. We can strive toward a healthier emotional healthier future for everybody by strengthening community resilience and incorporating mental health issues into climate action strategies. Psychological
References
- Benevolenza, M.A. and DeRigne, L., 2019. The impact of climate change and natural disasters on vulnerable populations: A systematic review of literature. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 29(2), pp.266-281.
- Berry, H.L., Hogan, A., Owen, J., Rickwood, D. and Fragar, L., 2011. Climate change and farmers’ mental health: risks and responses. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 23(2_suppl), pp.119S-132S.
- Cunsolo, A. and Ellis, N.R., 2018. Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss. Nature Climate Change, 8(4), pp.275-281.
- Dore, M.H., 2005. Climate change and changes in global precipitation patterns: what do we know?. Environment international, 31(8), pp.1167-1181.
- Knapp, M., 2003. Hidden costs of mental illness. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 183(6), pp.477-478.
- Parks, R.M. and Thalheimer, L., 2020. The hidden burden of pandemics, climate change, and migration on mental health. UN International Organization on Migration [IOM] thematic series on health. https://doi. org/10.25561/83126.
- Silveira, S., Kornbluh, M., Withers, M.C., Grennan, G., Ramanathan, V. and Mishra, J., 2021. Chronic mental health sequelae of climate change extremes: A case study of the deadliest Californian wildfire. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(4), p.1487.
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About the Authors:
Laiba Ali1, Muhammad Qasim2
1Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad
2Department of Environmental Sciences, Government College University Faisalabad
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