Losing sleep over climate

HIGHER night-time temperatures are harming human sleep, with sleep loss and the risk of insufficient sleep rising steeply when nights exceed a minimum of only 10C.

In a global natural experiment using more than 10 billion observations from sleeptracking wristbands, researchers found the effect of temperature on sleep loss was amplified for older people, women and people in lowincome countries.

The researchers say if climate change is not mitigated enough by the end of this century, each person could face the equivalent of two weeks of shortened sleep each year, affecting health and productivity.