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Climate Change Steals Your Sleep!
15 Jul
Summary
- Average person loses over 50 hours of sleep annually.
- Sleep loss due to heat has doubled since the 1970s.
- Asia and the Middle East experience the highest sleep loss.
Rising night-time temperatures, driven by climate change, are causing a global decrease in sleep duration. An analysis indicates that the average person now loses over 50 hours of sleep each year due to excessively warm nights.
This phenomenon, where overnight temperatures fail to drop below 20°C, has become more frequent worldwide. The study found that between 2020 and 2025, nearly 56 hours of sleep were lost annually per person. This represents a significant increase from the early 1970s when city dwellers lost around 46 hours.
Regions like the Middle East and Southeast Asia are most affected, with annual sleep losses ranging from 55 to 91 hours. Southern Europe also experiences considerable impact, with cities like Naples losing 51 hours of sleep annually.
Even northern European cities are affected, though to a lesser extent, with Edinburgh losing 21 hours. Poor sleep impacts mood, cognitive function, productivity, and overall health, making night-time heat an emerging environmental risk.
Warmer nights affect older adults more significantly than middle-aged individuals and have a greater impact on lower-middle-income countries. Women and those in already hot climates are also disproportionately affected, a trend expected to worsen with continued global warming.
