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Have trouble sleeping? Climate change is about to make it worse!
Researchers have long known that being too hot or too cold at night can disturb anyone`s sleep, but nobody had thought to ask how that might affect people in a world grown hotter because of climate change.
New Delhi: Are you facing problems sleeping lately? Well, thanks to global warming, this is just the beginning.
It's always uncomfortable sleeping in the heat – it makes you irritable and the sweat doesn't exactly make things easier. Unfortunately for us, though, it's about to get worse.
Yes, not only is climate change responsible for the unbelievable heat, loss of biodiversity, essential ice sheet melting, glacial calving and animal extinction, but it is also gradually making you sleep deprived.
According to a study, rising temperatures will make it much more difficult to nod off – endangering the health of millions of people.
The elderly and the poor will be worst hit, adding to the problems caused by climate change.
The study published in Science Advances represents the largest real-world study to date to find a relationship between insufficient sleep and unusually warm night-time temperatures. It's also the first to apply it to projected climate change.
Lead author Nick Obradovich and colleagues predicted more restless nights, especially in the summer, as global temperatures rise.
Increasing temperatures make it harder for people’s bodies to cool down — a prerequisite for a good night’s sleep.
But, if people's core temperature is warmer when they go to bed, this important signal doesn't work. Middle-aged people, especially post-menopausal women, are already in many cases worse at regulating their body temperature, making them more vulnerable.
Researchers have long known that being too hot or too cold at night can disturb anyone’s sleep, but nobody had thought to ask how that might affect people in a world grown hotter because of climate change.
According to The New York Times, Obradovich got the idea for the study while enduring a 2015 heat wave in an apartment in San Diego with no air-conditioner in the bedroom.
He said: “Sleep has been well-established by other researchers as a critical component of human health.
"Too little sleep can make a person more susceptible to disease and chronic illness, and it can harm psychological well-being and cognitive functioning.
"What our study shows is not only ambient temperature can play a role in disrupting sleep but also climate change might make the situation worse by driving up rates of sleep loss," the Express UK reported.