Why You Should Care About Climate Change

In spite of the news media’s monomaniacal focus on all things “Trump,” three pivotal reports about the urgency and immediacy of climate change and its health impacts have emerged with profoundly disturbing and sobering conclusions on this slow-moving worldwide disaster.

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report (sponsored, in part, by the United Nations) reveals that the accepted goal of the Paris Accord to keep global temperature increases from preindustrial times below 2 degrees Celsius will be much more disastrous than previously thought and that even staying below 1.5 degrees will cause enormous problems throughout the world, including numerous health impacts. The report concludes that the world’s nations have less than 10 to 15 years to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to become carbon neutral by 2050 to stave off the worst consequences.

• The National Climate Assessment (congressionally mandated every four years) asserts that negative consequences are already occurring throughout the United States and could progress to catastrophic levels unless we proceed with dramatic actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare our communities to adapt to the changing conditions affecting the economy, environment, and human health and well-being. The report identifies specific areas of concern, with particular emphasis on health impacts, including specific mention of mental health consequences:

“Mental health consequences, ranging from minimal stress and distress symptoms to clinical disorders, such as anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress, and suicidality, can result from exposures to short-lived or prolonged climate- or weather-related events and their health consequences.These mental health impacts can interact with other health, social, and environmental stressors to diminish an individual’s well-being. Some groups are more vulnerable than others, including the elderly, pregnant women, people with preexisting mental illness, the economically disadvantaged, tribal and Indigenous communities, and first responders.”

“Individuals whose households experienced a flood or risk of flood report higher levels of depression and anxiety, and these impacts can persist several years after the event. Disasters present a heavy burden on the mental health of children when there is forced displacement from their home or a loss of family and community stability. Increased use of alcohol and tobacco are common following disasters as well as droughts. Higher temperatures can lead to an increase in aggressive behaviors, including homicide. Social cohesion, good coping skills, and preemptive disaster planning are examples of adaptive measures that can help reduce the risk of prolonged psychological impacts.”

• The 2018 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change describes the progress or lack thereof related to a number of previously identified key health and environmental indicators. While limited in its focus on mental health issues, the Countdown acknowledges this shortcoming and indicates plans to incorporate more mental health–related research and indicators in subsequent annual reports.

So, how can psychiatrists understand and respond to these mental health impacts in their clinical, administrative, advocacy, research, and education functions? Stay tuned for more detailed reports on specific topics to follow in subsequent columns on climate and mental health in Psychiatric News.

Discussing these overwhelming and fearsome issues is far healthier than pretending that they do not exist or that it is too soon (or too late) to worry about them. Our children and future generations depend on us to act meaningfully and urgently to manage global warming and climate disruptions, the ultimate social determinants of health. ■