LOST SLEEP IN A WARMING WORLD
Global warming caused by humangreenhouse gases is having clear effects in the physical world: more heat waves, heavier rainstorms and higher sea levels, to cite a few.
In recent years, though, social scientists have been wrestling with a murkier question: What will climate change mean for human welfare?
Forecast sin this realm are tricky, necessarily based on along chain of assumptions. Scientific papers have predicted effects as varied as a greater spread of tropical diseases, fewer deaths from cold weather and more from hot weather, and even bumpier rides on airplanes.
Now comes another entry in thisprediction that in a hotter world, people will get less sleep.
In a paper published online May 26 by the journal Science Advances, Nick O bra do vic hand colleagues predicted more rest less nights, especially in the summer, as global temperatures rise. They found that the poor, who are less likely to have air-conditioning or be able tor unit, as well as the elderly, who have more difficulty regulating their body temperature, would behithard.
If global emissions are allowed to continue at a high level, the paper found, then additional nights of sleeplessness can be expected beyond what people normally experience. By 2050, for every 100 Americans,an extra six nights of sleeplessness can be expected every month, the researcherscalculated. By 2099, that would more than double, to 14 additional nights of tossing and turning each month for every 100 people, in their estimation.