researchers mengyao li, susana ferreria, and travis smith examined data between 1993 and 2010 on temperature and on self-reported mental health obtained from a state based health survey system under the center for disease control and prevention. cooler days were found to reduce the probability of reporting bad mental health days whereas hotter days, mostly after ten consecutive days, increased this probability. the probability of frequent mental distress (more than 14 days of bad mental health for the past month) was even higher during these hotter days. 

three years prior to these findings, a study published in environmental health perspectives concluded that exposure to air pollution was also related to poor mental health. long-term exposure to particulate matter (pm 2.5) was associated with depression and anxiety, and short-term exposure to pm 2.5 was associated with suicide. pm 2.5 are fine inhalable particles that can be emitted directly from sources, such as construction sites and unpaved roads, or through complex chemical reactions of pollutants emitted from power plants and automobiles. 

the release of new research on temperature and mental health is a concerning addition to the psychological health effects humans could face from air pollution. understanding these implications, li and the other researchers suggested future studies examine how community-level factors impact the mental effects of climate change. 

“i think it’s necessary to know how community-level factors like neighborhood environment, social cohesion, and also individual adaptation actions like use of air conditioning or migration, whether those things would help mitigate the effect of temperature on individual mental health,” li said. 

at local levels, air pollution is often worse in lower income areas, where industrial facilities or highways serve as point sources, increasing exposure. speaking on both temperature and air pollution, li said, “the two factors combined together would pose extra pressure on people that have more exposure in those communities.”

as poorer and less developed communities will ultimately bear the mental burdens of increased air pollution combined with hotter days, it is clear that climate change is not the great equalizer. this health disparity will grow as increased temperatures will only exacerbate the mental health decline of exposed communities. 

at a local level, air pollution varies throughout the district of columbia and is generally higher in the seventh and eight wards which are historically low-income and often minority neighborhoods. this inequality is left unaddressed because the environmental protection agency aggregates air quality data from their six high-cost monitoring stations, labeling the district with the same pollution levels despite drastic differences between communities.

fresh air d.c., a student-run and community focused research project about air quality at george washington university, seeks to create the first and only community level network of low-cost air quality monitors. these monitors would serve to fill the gaps in pollution level data throughout the district’s wards. aitana mendiguren, a student working on community outreach for the project, said, “we mainly want to educate and empower community members of wards seven and eight who are exposed to higher local levels of air pollution. using our sensors they will be able to actually monitor their community-levels with real data.”

while fresh air d.c. stresses the physical health effects of air pollution, the recently discovered associations between mental health and global warming only further support the necessity for their efforts. “people living in these wards need the hands-on tools to understand how their health is a risk,” mediguren said. 

1. nebraska, on average, annually warmed approximately 1.2 degrees fahrenheit, likely as a result of global warming, according to data collected from 1895 to the present by state climate director martha shulski.
    
2. shulski and others conclude the projection of nebraska’s future climate includes temperature rises between 4-5/8-9 degrees fahrenheit if climate patterns continue as they are currently.
    
3. plant species and the increasing distribution of vector born diseases have been shifting north because of climate change and the resulting new distribution of warmth in the northern regions, according to both dr. ali khan of the university of nebraska medical center and rick schneider of nebraska game and parks.
    
4. because of this northern shift of plant species there has been an emergence of new insects and different migration patterns in regions unseen by them before.
    
5. nebraska is losing plant species because of unsuitable land spaces as a result of climate change and the dramatic weather events that follow.
    
6. there have been notable changes in natural community composition in not only nebraska but globally as well; species are changing individually as an adaptation to climate change.
    
7. because of climate change, spring has been appearing earlier, causing greening and flowering sooner which has been a process agricultural production has had to adjust to, as stated by university of nebraska’s tala awada and terry mader.
    
8. dr. khan also discussed how diseases from southeast asia have been traveling to the pacific northwest because of warmer waters caused by the rise in atmospheric temperatures from climate change.
    
9. there has been an increase in mental health issues as well that could be correlated with the climates changes; for example, as the temperature rises, anger rises, according to research by unmc.
    
10. finally, a statement made by dr. khan at the end of his presentation that stood out to me was that climate change is more than just a scientific issue; it is also a moral, ethical and social issue.

but it does take one to help understand why we should adjust the ways we stay warm this winter.

since 1970, global surface temperatures have risen at a trend of 0.28°f per decade. scientific models illustrate that the 2000s were hotter than the 1990s, which were hotter than the 1980s, and so on.

some days happen to be colder than others, which make it hard to feel slow changes in climate. but looking at temperature data from recent decades shows that new record highs occur about twice as often as new record lows. this all largely caused by human greenhouse gas emissions over time.  

that’s where you come in.

household space heating makes up more than 40 percent of all energy consumption and heating costs are projected to climb higher than usual this winter in response to forecasted, low-digit temperatures. 

while heating is a high priority, there are steps you can take to stay warm, limit greenhouse gas emissions and save a buck or two on energy bills.

one option could be to invest in a programmable central thermostat. according to a recent survey, only 37 percent of households use a programmable thermostat to heat their homes. these systems can save an average person about 20 percent of costs on their original heating bill.

if your household is already one of the 48 percent that contains a non-programmable central thermostat, you can still minimize heating costs by setting the thermostat to a maximum of 70°f when occupied and 61°f when unoccupied.

and, of course, you can always wear a sweater.

heat responsibly!

at the university of california-irvine, arthur weis is studying how a 5-year california drought caused genetic changes in field mustard, a weedy plant that is common throughout the united states. weis collected seeds from wild plants before and after the drought, then raised them under identical conditions to observe differences between the two samples. even when provided with sufficient amounts of water, plants grown from post-drought seeds bloomed sooner. during the drought, natural selection favored this particular trait because it allowed the plants to seed successfully before conditions became fatally dry. building on this study, weis is organizing an nsf-funded workshop to stimulate a concerted scientific effort to collect and preserve seeds across north america. called project baseline, this undertaking will provide scientists with an important resource for studying future climate change–induced evolutionary events.

on a global scale, raymond huey of the university of washington and george gilchrist of the college of william and mary have found genetic changes in fruit flies that correspond to temperature increases. in their study, they examined a certain type of genetic change known as a chromosomal inversion. more than 40 years ago, scientists documented these genetic rearrangements in wild populations of the fruit fly species drosophila subobscura and noted that the frequency of the inversions correlated with the flies’ latitude. although the exact purpose of the inversion is unknown, it appears to protect the flies against warm temperatures. huey and gilchrist used the past data and added information on present-day fruit flies on three continents. their analysis shows genetic differences between contemporary fruit flies and 1981 populations: flies at higher latitudes have more of the low-latitude chromosomal inversions. in other words, these flies have undergone genetic adaptation to warmer temperatures.

the new climate “normals” will provide key information for decisions we make in the future, ranging from what we plant, what we pay for energy, and even where we take a vacation.