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Canadians are increasingly experiencing symptoms of anxiety, "ecological grief" and even post-traumatic stress related to the effects of climate change, according to a new report.
The impact of climate change on mental health has only recently been undertaken by researchers and evidence is starting to increase. This is part of the understanding of climate change as an imminent public health crisis.
"Food insecurity, post-traumatic stress disorder, population displacement, trauma, cardiorespiratory impacts and even deaths from fire, flood, storm, heat wave and poor quality the resulting air are some of the health problems experienced in Canada in recent months. Courtney Howard, lead author of the Lancet Countdown report on Canada, released Wednesday.
"The lack of progress of our governments is affecting us today and will increasingly endanger public health infrastructure," she said.
The report cites a growing body of evidence, largely the result of research done in Canada, not only on physical effects, but also on the effects of climate change on mental health.
They include ecological anxiety, ecological grief, and so-called solastalgia, described as "homesickness when you're at home." This word, coined by the Australian philosopher Glenn A. Albrecht, specifically refers to environmental pain and refers to an Inuit word that: refers to a friend who behaves in an unknown manner.
Researchers in Canada's North have described some of these impacts in people whose landscape is changing rapidly, including among Inuit.
Climate change, which causes extreme heat waves, unusual forest fires and other direct impacts, also increases the risk of suicide for some, Howard said.
The Lancet Countdown Report 2018, supported by the Canadian Public Health Association and the Canadian Medical Association, was released at the same time as an international report on health and climate change. The Canadian report includes recommendations for policymakers, including setting a price for carbon.
Carbon pricing, Howard said, is the best tool available to tackle public health problems resulting from climate change. She compared this to efforts to reduce tobacco use.
"We know it works because we have found it with regard to the phase out of tobacco."
The report focuses on some of the effects of climate change observed in the Far North, the impact of forest fires on individuals in western Canada and the impact of recent heat waves in the southern Canada. Dozens of deaths in Quebec this summer have been attributed to a prolonged heat wave.
Among other recommendations in the report, it is recommended that Canada standardize the reporting of heat-related illnesses and deaths and develop a public health plan to minimize the health impacts of heat now and in the future .
The report comes at a time when some Canadian politicians are rejecting carbon pricing and alarming warnings about climate change are on the rise.
Ontario has ended its cap-and-trade program put in place by the recently elected Progressive Conservative government. Premiers from Ontario and Saskatchewan are fighting federal government plans to introduce a carbon tax. Ontario is expected to release a climate plan on Thursday.
At the same time, US President Donald Trump, whose government eased environmental protection, said he did not believe in an extremely harsh climate change report released by his government last week.
Some of the effects of climate change on mental health are directly related to physical effects. The extreme wildfires around Yellowknife in 2014 caused people to feel lonely, isolated and anxious because of their inability to go out and do things like picking berries and walking, Howard said.
But anxiety can be linked to fear of the future and feelings of helplessness in the face of imminent calamity, she said. Taking action to reduce greenhouse gases, she said, as the UK has done with its 2007 climate change law, can reduce anxiety. Greenhouse gas emissions in the United Kingdom have been significantly reduced during this period.
In Canada, where some of the most visible impacts of climate change are occurring in the Arctic, greenhouse gas emissions are steadily increasing.
"I think what's happening in Canada is that we've moved from where scientists tell us about climate change to where we feel about climate change."
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