A recent study found that rising temperatures erode human sleep globally and steal precious hours from people’s sleep, warning that the number of hours of sleep will decrease further with rising temperatures, especially for the elderly, females and low-income communities.
The study, which was published by the scientific journal “One Earth”, included 47,000 adults in 68 countries, and found a significant change in the duration of sleep when the nighttime temperature rose above 50 degrees (10 degrees Celsius), as it is in the nights when the temperature exceeds 86 degrees. On average, people sleep 14 minutes less, reports Al-Rai daily.
Over longer periods of time, the loss is greater, according to the study, which showed that people already lose an average of 44 hours of sleep per year, and as warming continues, people will be under intense pressure to get a good night’s rest.
According to the study, the nighttime temperature has risen faster than the daytime temperatures in many places around the world, and by the year 2099, individuals worldwide may lose between 50 and 58 hours of sleep per year.
The study indicated that so far there is no evidence of the human body adapting to high temperatures, and the elderly and females are the most affected, along with poor communities.
She stated that without the use of air conditioning in poor communities, and in the event that greenhouse gas concentrations are not stable until the end of the current century, each person could lose two weeks of sleep per year on average due to the high temperature each year.
She pointed out that we often take sleep for granted, but not getting enough sleep can increase our risk of many serious health problems, such as poor mental health, obesity, heart problems, or even early death.
According to the study, lack of sleep is associated with decreased cognitive performance, decreased productivity, impaired immune function, negative cardiovascular outcomes, depression, anger, and suicidal behavior.
The study warned against the increasing use of air conditioning because it exacerbates the burden of global warming by increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
The study finds that continued urbanization is expected to further amplify exposure to ambient heat.
The study recommends a focus on heat-resilient urban planning, environmental design, and biopsychosocial interventions to fairly protect the world’s urban population centers and vulnerable communities from exposure to high nighttime temperatures.