Climate Change, Sleep, and Mental Health

Climate change is expected to adversely impact sleep, which may be a key factor in our resiliency in coping with the physical and mental health impacts of climate change. Sleep is a dynamic, multidimensional process that can be influenced by behavioral and environmental factors. Sleep also plays a central role in mental health. Here we review the relationships between sleep health and temperature, pollution, allergens, natural disasters, and trauma as they pertain to climate change. We also discuss populations that may be more vulnerable to the adverse consequences of climate change on sleep health, adaptation and mitigation strategies, and current gaps in knowledge. Promoting sleep health should be considered in the development of climate change adaptation strategies, particularly for low-income, elderly, and other communities most likely to be negatively impacted. However, further work is needed to characterize and disentangle the associations between sleep health and climate-related environmental factors.