Researchers with the Mental Health and Climate Change Alliance (MHCCA) found substantially higher anxiety due to climate change following the heat dome.
A EurekAlert! report said, the Western North American heat dome of last summer led to "more than record-breaking temperature increases."
Increasing anxiety about climate change has been reported in new research on the impact of a weather event on people's mental health.
The researchers believe their study is one of the first of its kind to present direct links between climate change-related weather events and mental health concerns.
Increased Anxiety After the Heat Dome
The study investigators explained that ongoing monitoring of climate change anxiety is necessary for better insight into the effect of individual and compounding climate change-related occurrences over time.
In this new research published in The Journal of Climate Change and Health, the results from data collected from more than 850 individuals aged above 16 years old showed the average levels of climate age anxiety increased by roughly 13 percent among British Columbians following the heat dome.
About 40.1 percent of the participants said they were much worried, while 18.4 percent were somewhat more worried about climate change following the heat occurrence.
The number of individuals who felt it was quite likely their region would be shattered because of climate change rose from 17.5 percent before the heat dome to 29.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the number of individuals who felt that the industry they were working in would be affected by climate change rose from 35 percent before the heat dome to 40.3 percent. About 40.8 percent of the participants said they were somewhat affected and 17.4 percent were greatly affected by the heat dome.
Climate Change and Mental Health
According to Kiffer Card, the MHCCS director and assistant professor in SFU's Faculty of Health Sciences, their work explores an essential link between two of the "most pressing public health emergencies of the 21st century," which are climate change and mental health.
In doing so, added the assistant professor, their work sends a clear message, that personal and planetary health are "one and the same."
MHCAA will continue to monitor climate distress levels among British Columbians and hopes to extend its study on climate event-related anxiety nationwide, Card addes.
The research team has applied for federal funding, although Card noted its unavailability to learn about the health effects of climate change remains one of the challenges.
The Canadian Research Information System has shown that for the past 10 years, less than one percent of health research funding in the country has engaged in projects associated with climate change or global warming.
The Greatest Threat to Human Health
The study authors said, their work is one of the first to employ a validated climate change anxiety measurement tool to explore the impacts of extreme heat on mental health in Canada, offering new understandings that can advance emerging studies in the field.
Leading medical journals and public health organizations have identified climate change as the greatest threat to human health in the 21st Century, according to Card. He added that climate change is already bringing more frequent, extended, and severe extreme weather occurrences like floods and heatwaves.
Such occurrences are leading to both direct and indirect consequences for individuals and communities all over the world.
ScienceDaily said in a similar report that the study highlights how the most immediate cause of such consequences is worsening mental health, as people are grappling with worries and anxieties about their local environment.
Related information about the effect of climate change on mental health is shown on The YEARS Project's YouTube video below:
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Check out more news and information on Climate Change and Mental Health in Science Times.
