Can't Sleep And Feeling Low? The Climate Crisis Could Be Harming Your Mental Health

World leaders have been travelling to Egypt for the annual meeting about the climate crisis at Cop27.

- Ian Hamilton

The focus this year is how wealthier countries should compensate developing countries for the role they played in accelerating change to the climate, leading to extreme weather events.

It is understandable why so much attention is given to the physical impact of the climate crisis, such as flooding, forest fires, hurricanes and drought. But this ignores the influence of the crisis on individual and population mental health.

The Welcome Trust recently released a report outlining what we know already about the way extreme weather is affecting people's mental health. This ranges from young people's anxiety about their future - which many perceive to be bleak - through to grief caused by losing loved ones; as weather conditions such as the recent floods in Pakistan take their toll.

As the planet warms, the effect on mental - as well as physical health is not distributed evenly. Heatwaves are known to increase the rate of suicide in affected areas. Likewise, hospital admissions for mental health problems also rise during heatwaves.