Climate breakdown depriving us of sleep, study finds

Rising temperatures could see people lose an average of 58 hours of sleep each year by 2099, Andy Gregory reports

Sleep is ‘an essential restorative process integral for human health and productivity’, researchers say (PA Archive)

Global heating is negatively impacting people’s sleeping patterns around the world, with those in poorer countries worse-affected, a new study suggests.

Providing what they say is the “first planetary-scale evidence” that above-average temperatures “erode human sleep”, scientists have calculated that, by 2099, rising temperatures could see people lose between 50 to 58 hours of sleep each year.

According to the study, published on Friday in the journal One Earth, this deterioration in sleeping patterns could even be among the reasons why – according to a growing body of evidence – climate breakdown is impacting upon individuals’ mental health and cognitive capabilities.