Global warming leads to major sleep problems and health problems – Dagsavisen
People around the world are likely to lose between 50 and 58 hours of sleep a year before we pass 2099, according to a new study published in the magazine One Eart. And that because of global warming. Using bracelets with internal accelerometers, researchers have measured sleep duration and sleep timing in over 47,000 adults in 68 different countries. The survey was conducted over an average of six months, writes CNN.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults should have seven to nine hours of sleep, but the probability of getting less and hours of sleep increases by 3.5 percent if the minimum temperatures outside at night exceed 25 degrees, compared to the basic temperature of 5-10 degrees, it shows new study.
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May cause health problems
When adults sleep fewer hours than recommended, they may have difficulty concentrating, according to Alex Agostini, a lecturer at the Department of Justice and Society at the University of South Australia in Adelaide. She was not involved in the investigation, according to CNN, but said the following during her lecture:
– Long-term effects can also increase the risk of some health problems such as heart and intestinal diseases.
One-third of adults in the United States report that they typically get less sleep than the recommended seven to nine time, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
– Many of us already do not get enough sleep, and that global warming can help exacerbate sleep problems, can have real consequences for our health and well-being, writes Alex Agostini in a email to CNN.
Worst for the elderly
A single night with a temperature above 30 degrees reduces sleep time by about a quarter of an hour per person, according to the lead author of the study, Kelton Minor. He is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Social Computer Science at the University of Copenhagen.
The study also showed that older people lost twice as much sleep per warm-up rate compared to young or middle-aged adults. The loss of sleep was three times greater for the elderly in areas with lower incomes, compared to areas with higher incomes, according to Minor. Also, women were about 25 percent more affected by the rising temperatures and men.
The researchers behind the study also found evidence that people living in warmer climates lose more sleep per degree than those living in colder climates, and that people are better at adapting to colder climates even in warmer climates.
– That the loss of sleep is greater in warmer places, may mean that people do not adapt to warmer temperatures as well, says Minor.
[ – Det er en misforståelse at man sover natten gjennom. Det er det ingen som gjør ]
People struggle to adapt
With temperatures continuing to rise as a result of global warming, this is not new to most of us. Less estimate that sleep loss will increase faster in regions that are already facing hot climates, compared to those that do not. He noticed the following:
– The amount of sleep people got the first summer month when they were less familiar with heat, versus the last summer month when they were more familiar with it, showed that they lost almost the same amount of sleep.
It happens that people can not adapt to higher temperatures over time.
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Use of air conditioning
When people go to sleep, their core body temperature drops, according to Agostini. When the ambient temperature is warmer, it makes it harder to cool down, which can affect the ability to fall asleep, she explains.
Using air conditioning can help people more easily adapt to hot temperatures, but it is not a safe, long-term solution, Agostini. This is because people living in low-income countries have poorer access to proposed solutions, and can therefore contribute to worsening gender equality. I add releasing greenhouse gas emissions, which naturally increase global warming.
– A bigger and better solution to the problem is the use of environmentally friendly building planning and implementation of other changes to improve the problem of global warming, writes Agositini.
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