Considerations for Disaster Behavioral Health in the Era of Climate Change

What role does climate change play in the recent increase in natural disasters in the United States? Are we prepared to assist vulnerable populations in addressing the behavioral health issues that may result from such disasters? Over the last decade, the number of natural disasters has increased substantially, to a level unprecedented in global history (Cianconi et al., Front Psychiatry, 11. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00074 , 2020; Gousse-Lessard et al., Disaster Prev Manag, ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-09-2022-0190 , 2022). From 2012 to 2022, there were 631 major disaster declarations (Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA], Declared disasters. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/disaster/declarations , n.d.). More than 4 in 10 Americans live in a county that was struck by climate-related extreme weather in 2021 alone, with at least 656 people dying and the cost of the destruction topping $104 billion (Kaplan and Tran, The Washington Post, 2022, January 5). Such disasters impact the emotional and psychological well-being of those who are directly or indirectly exposed to them and will have a disproportionate effect on certain vulnerable populations (Chen et al., J Anxiety Disord 76. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102297 , 2020). Given the unprecedented number of natural disasters, exploring the association between climate change and disaster behavior health has become a critical endeavor. This article provides an overview of the literature discussing climate change and its impact on the number and scale of disasters in the United States and the field of disaster behavioral health. It also explores the effects of climate-related disasters on vulnerable populations and considers ways in which disaster behavioral health programs and interventions can support individuals and communities in a hotter, more disaster-prone future.