Climate change, biodiversity loss and mental health: a global perspective

Cianconi, Paolo; Hirsch, Daniele; Chiappini, Stefania; Martinotti, Giovanni; Janiri, Luigi

doi:10.1192/bji.2022.20

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Our participants are becoming increasingly concerned about habitat destruction occurring in or nearby our study area, and occasionally reported a resulting decrease in motivation. Unfortunately, this is in line with other studies reporting on a growing body of evidence relating to emotional distress responses arising from perceptions on environmental change in society (Cianconi et al 2022).…”

Section: Citizen Science Engagement and Motivationsupporting

confidence: 91%

Engaging Citizen Scientists in Biodiversity Monitoring: Insights from the WildLIVE! Project

Jansen,

Beukes,

Weiland

et al. 2024

CSTP

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The growing public interest in biodiversity monitoring has led to a significant increase in initiatives that unite citizen scientists, researchers, and machine learning technologies. In this context, we introduce WildLIVE!, a dynamic biomonitoring and citizen science project. In WildLIVE!, participants analyze a vast array of images from a long-term camera trapping project in Bolivia to investigate the impacts of shifting environmental factors on wildlife. From 2020 to 2023, more than 850 participants registered for WildLIVE!, contributing nearly 9,000 hours of voluntary work. We explore the motivators and sentiments of participant engagement and discuss the key strategies that have contributed to the project’s initial success. The findings from a questionnaire highlight that the primary motivational factors for our participants are understanding and knowledge, as well as engagement and commitment. However, expressions of positive and negative sentiments can be found regarding involvement. Participants appeared to be driven primarily by a desire for intellectual growth and emotional fulfillment. Factors crucial to the success of this digital citizen science project include media exposure, creating emotional connections through virtual and in-person communication with participants, and visibility on public citizen science portals. Moreover, the project’s labeled dataset serves as a valuable resource for machine learning, aiding the development of a new platform that is compliant with the FAIR principles. WildLIVE! not only contributes to outcomes in science, society, and nature conservation, but also demonstrates the potential of creating a collaborative bridge between the general public, scientific research, biodiversity conservation, and advanced technological applications.

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Section: Citizen Science Engagement and Motivationsupporting

confidence: 91%

Engaging Citizen Scientists in Biodiversity Monitoring: Insights from the WildLIVE! Project

Jansen,

Beukes,

Weiland

et al. 2024

CSTP

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“…First, by poor physical health which is associated with mental wellbeing; second, by environmental risk factors such as smoke, dust, pollen density, plant disease, infestations, water scarcity and disease, food reduction, living in urban slums, and loss of sense of place; finally, through their impact on human activities and change to the social environment via adaptation and mitigation (eg, travel by alternative means, availability of air conditioning). Furthermore, psychological symptoms may also arise from a "disconnection" from the natural world [10]. It is interesting to note that the effects of climate change are described in different ways across the literature and many of which could be perceived as indirect due to the fact that the impact of climate change on mental health is not the result of a single event.…”

Section: Impact On Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eco-emotions and Psychoterratic Syndromes: Reshaping Mental Health Assessment Under Climate Change

et al. 2023

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Human activities like greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and deforestation are largely responsible for climate change and biodiversity loss. The climate is a complex system and scientists are striving to predict, prevent, and address the aforementioned issues in order to avoid reaching tipping points. The threat to humankind is not only physical (ie, heat waves, floods, droughts) but also psychological, especially for some groups. Insecurity, danger, chaos, and an unstable system due to climate change have both short-and long-term psychological effects. In this scenario, the need for new psychological categories is emerging, namely, eco-emotions and psychoterratic syndromes which include eco-anxiety, ecological grief, climate worry, and climate trauma. This paper focuses on these new categories, presenting a summary of each one, including definitions, hypotheses, questions, and testological evaluations, as a useful tool to be consulted by researchers and clinicians and to help them in the therapeutic work. Also, this paper endeavors to distinguish between a psychological stress resulting in a positive outcome, such as pro-environmental behavior, compared to a stress that leads to a psychopathology. Prevention and intervention strategies including social and community support are fundamental to help cope with and mitigate the effect of climate change on mental health. In conclusion, the climate crisis has led to an enormous increase in research on climate change and its consequences on mental health. Researchers and clinicians must be prepared to assess this complex phenomenon and provide help to those who cannot cope with anxiety and climatic mourning.

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“…Access to a healthy environment has recently been declared a human right [16] acknowledging the myriad benefits it provides to physical and mental health. Studies show that access to green (green parks, forests) and blue (lakes, rivers, streams, waterfalls) areas is associated with physical and mental health [17 ▪▪ ] (suggesting also a reduced risk of developing schizophrenia compared to their counterparts living in areas with little green space [18 ▪ ]), also calling into question the concept of perceived biodiversity [19 ▪ ]. However, access to a healthy environment is not uniform: the elderly, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and people with disabilities are twice as likely to have not visited nature in the past month [20], disadvantaged, such as the homelessness and suburban dwellers, live in concrete areas, whereas wealthy people can easily afford the access to greener environments.…”

Section: Mental Health In Urban Areas Under Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Is climate change affecting mental health of urban populations?

Cianconi

Hanife

Hirsch

et al. 2023

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

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Purpose of reviewIn this article, we outline an up-to-date overview of the climate change impact on mental health of urban population, conducted by searching the PubMed database for relevant studies published in the past 12–18 months, in English.Recent findingsClimate change is part of a larger systemic ecological problem in which human demands are exceeding the regenerative capacity of the biosphere. We are witnessing a ‘climate chaos’, a phase of instability and transformation, which is leading humans into a psychological condition of ‘systemic insecurity’ and a shared feeling of uncertainty. Currently, one of the places where our species is particularly exposed to climate change are cities, due to build-up in urban infrastructure, rapid and chaotic urbanization, high densities and recent rapid growth, social inequality, and ‘heat island effect’.The impact of climate change on cities exposes vulnerable groups to the worse mental health consequences. These groups include the homelessness, slum dwellers for whom the ‘neighbourhood effects’ are being discussed, climate refugees and migrants, young people, and finally those who assist these people.SummaryIn order to realize broader mental health prevention in cities exposed to climate change phenomena, public health approaches are needed. Institutions must avoid reinforcing inequalities among the more vulnerable groups or create new inequalities.

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Climate change, biodiversity loss and mental health: a global perspective

Cited by 5 publications

References 16 publications

Engaging Citizen Scientists in Biodiversity Monitoring: Insights from the WildLIVE! Project

Engaging Citizen Scientists in Biodiversity Monitoring: Insights from the WildLIVE! Project

Eco-emotions and Psychoterratic Syndromes: Reshaping Mental Health Assessment Under Climate Change

Is climate change affecting mental health of urban populations?

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