In a study published last Monday in Nature, a group of Harvard University researchers linked the chronic effects of climate change to negative mental health outcomes.
Researchers at Harvard University, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Chicago, University of Oxford, and Yale University, are using quantitative and qualitative data to examine how slow-moving climate factors negatively impact populations. integrated data.
Previous research has focused on the effects of short-term disasters such as hurricanes, but this study has a broader scope, said Christy A. Denkla, assistant professor at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and co-author of the paper. It is said that it was targeted. With Kate Burrows, assistant professor at the University of Chicago.
Denkla said his team's study is “the first comprehensive investigation of mental health and these slow-moving climate change drivers.”
The study found strong evidence that “ambient temperatures that rise slowly over time” are “associated with a variety of mental health outcomes,” including suicide and depression, Denkla said.
Denkla said what was unique about the study was its focus on qualitative data and the inclusion of Indigenous stories.
These testimonies reveal “how people grapple with anxiety about their future and the impact that particular ecosystems have on the communities that closely depend on them.” It helped, she said.
Building on Barrow and Denkla's work, another study by Harvard professor Kalestan C. Coenen and doctoral student Harvet Randriamadi examines the effects of climate-induced stressors in Madagascar.
Koenen said the Madagascar study addresses a “gap” in research related to climate change and mental health, noting that much of the existing research is based in the United States.
“The countries most affected by climate change are the least studied,” she says.
Madagascar Research Director Randriamadi said research on climate change insecurity is needed to further understand the effects of environmental change.
“To measure how climate change relates to food insecurity, we first need to have valid tools,” he said.
To address the effects of climate change on mental health, Denkla said reducing public health disparities is “one of the most important interventions and factors to consider in addressing the link between mental health and climate change.” It will become one.”
“One approach is to consider individual psychotherapy, but to really address population health impacts, solutions need to be delivered at the population health level,” she says. Told.
In particular, she emphasized the importance of a two-pronged approach to combating climate-induced psychological distress.
“We need action-oriented solutions and robust, gold-standard empirical research in this area,” Denkla said.
She also identified what she sees as key collaborations across industries in tackling the effects of climate change.
“Solutions for the health of the planet must come from all sectors: private, public and academic,” Denkla added. “This is an all-hands-on-deck challenge.”
—Staff writer Christie E. Beckley can be reached at christie.beckley@thecrimson.com. X Follow her at @cbeckley22.
—Staff writer Xinni (Sunshine) Chen can be reached at sunshine.chen@thecrimson.com. X Follow her at @sunshine_cxn.
