Global warming will hike mental health woes, study finds | Nick Obradovich

Oct. 10, 2018 (Phys.org) -- Mental health problems will increase as temperatures rise due to climate change, a new study warns.

The researchers said that over five years, a 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degree Fahrenheit) increase in average temperature is associated with higher rates of mental health issues, CNN reported.

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"We don't exactly know why we see high temperatures or increasing temperatures produce mental health problems," lead author Nick Obradovich, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, told CNN.

"For example, is poor sleep due to hot temperatures the thing that produces mental health problems? We have a lot of work to do to figure out precisely what is causing what," Obradovich said.

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