Climate change fuelling mental health crisis in areas most affected by climate crisis
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 4-Sep-2025 09:11 ET (4-Sep-2025 13:11 GMT/UTC)
Climate change is not just an environmental issue — it’s a mental health crisis impacting on adolescent wellbeing right now in areas most affected by climate change, according to new research from Trinity College Dublin.
People in informal settlements, urban deprived areas, refugee camps, prisons, and war zones can be particularly vulnerable to climate threats and natural hazards. A new study, led by IIASA researchers, explores how policymakers can ease their burden.
Hot weather is responsible for an average of almost 50,000 years of healthy life lost to cardiovascular disease every year among people in Australia, according to research published in the European Heart Journal. This equates to around 7.3% of the total burden due to illness and death from cardiovascular disease. The study also suggests that this figure could double, or even triple, by the middle of the century, if we continue with the current trend of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Arctic is one of the regions most strongly affected by climate change. In recent decades, the temperature there has risen four times as fast as the global average. The ASCCI measurement campaign coordinated by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Goethe University Frankfurt is investigating why the Arctic is warming so much faster than the rest of Earth’s surface and what effects that will have. With measurement flights taking place in the region through early April, the researchers are working to gain a better understanding of the causes and effects of Arctic climate change.