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Heatwave Insomnia: Experts Warn of Widespread Health Crisis
🇷🇸 Serbia /Disasters & Emergencies

Heatwave Insomnia: Experts Warn of Widespread Health Crisis

From N1 Serbia · () Serbian

Translated from Serbian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Rising global temperatures due to climate change are causing widespread sleep deprivation across Europe, with many adults reporting significant difficulty sleeping during heatwaves.
  • A study found that when night temperatures rise from 12 to 27 degrees Celsius, people are about 40% more likely to sleep less than six hours.
  • Insufficient sleep, exacerbated by hotter nights, can lead to a range of physical and mental health issues, including diabetes, depression, and heart disease, and impacts cognitive function and emotional balance.

Many across Europe are losing sleep due to the persistent heat, a problem expected to worsen as climate change accelerates global warming. In the UK, a recent survey revealed that 65% of adults struggled with sleep during June's record-breaking temperatures, often losing three or more hours of rest. This widespread insomnia is likely mirroring the current heatwave, as nights fail to offer relief.

People cannot maintain cognitive abilities, memory, or emotional balance if they sleep less than seven hours a night.

— Tai FergusonTai Ferguson from the University of Adelaide in Australia, who studies the health and social consequences of sleep disorders caused by climate change, warns about the effects of insufficient sleep.

Europe is warming at more than twice the global average, making it a hotspot for sleep disturbances. In Germany's Saxony region, one weather station recorded a tropical night with a low of 29.4 degrees Celsius in June. International research group World Weather Attribution notes that such high nighttime temperatures are now a hundred times more likely than before climate change.

Scientists are increasingly recognizing heat-induced sleep loss as a critical indicator of climate change's impact on health. A study analyzing data from nearly 318,000 people found a significant increase in sleeping less than six hours when night temperatures climb to 27 degrees Celsius. Experts warn that consistently sleeping less than seven hours impairs cognitive abilities, memory, and emotional stability. Beyond mood and attention, chronic sleep deprivation is linked to higher risks of diabetes, depression, heart disease, and obesity.

Sleep is a basic physiological need essential for the functioning of the immune system, mental health, and daily well-being.

— Bowen ChuBowen Chu from Nanjing University in China, a co-author of a study on the economic consequences of gradual sleep loss in children due to climate change, emphasizes the importance of sleep.

Sleep is a fundamental physiological need vital for the immune system, mental well-being, and daily functioning. Researchers are now studying the cumulative, everyday effects of rising temperatures on human life, moving beyond a sole focus on extreme weather events. This growing body of research highlights how gradual temperature increases, particularly at night, are steadily impacting global health and quality of life.

Nighttime temperatures are rising faster than daytime temperatures.

— Bowen ChuBowen Chu explains how rising nighttime temperatures contribute to sleep loss.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by N1 Serbia in Serbian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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