Washington: According to experts, climate change may have surprising and wide-ranging effects on mental health.
Climate change is both a root cause of mental health crises and a “threat multiplier” — it makes existing mental health problems worse, Dr Lise Van Susteren, a psychiatrist in private practice, told Live Science.
Susan Clayton, professor of psychology, told CNN that disasters such as flooding, heat waves and drought caused by climate change have a significant impact on the state of mind.
Extreme weather has a particularly disturbing link to increased aggression. In 2013, researchers from Princeton University and the University of California-Berkeley found that even slight spikes in temperature and precipitation increased the risk of personal violence and social upheaval.
With projections that the Earth may warm between three and four degrees Fahrenheit by 2050, researchers warn that climate change is the precursor to more human conflict in the near future.
