Weather Disasters

Credit: Eoin Ryan (McMurray, C. (2025). » Building a climate neuroscience subfield: Q&A with Angie Michaiel. Thetransmitter.Org.https://www.thetransmitter.org/community/building-a-climate-neuroscience-subfield-qa-with-angie-michaiel/)

Climate Change and Natural Disasters

Rising temperatures have led to a massive increase in the frequency and severity of natural disasters worldwide. In 1980, the global temperature was around 0.25° C (according to the Global Temperature indicator from NASA), and there was a total of 123 recorded natural disasters (Source: Our World In Data). Lets compare that to the year 2020, where the average temperature was 1.01° C. In 2020, there was 414 reported cases of Natural Disasters. We can clearly see the correlation in the graph provided:

Amount of Natural Disasters reported versus the Average Global Temperature

Scatter plot maker & calculator with regression line. (2025, June 21). Scatter Plot Calculator - Easy-to-Use Scatter Plot and Regression Tool. https://scatterplotcalculator.com

Each dot is a year, with its horizontal position representing the average global temperature in that year and the vertical position being the amount of reported natural disasters in that year. As you can see, as the temperature rises, so does the amount of natural disasters that are reported.

Natural Disasters and Mental Health

Natural Disasters can and do lead to a whole host of Mental Health issues. There are two main types of mental health issues caused by Natural Disasters:

Short Term mental health issues are those that appear immediately after the extreme climate event (seconds to days after). They usually go away after just a few hours to weeks, impacting relationships, productivity, mood, sleep, and a few others (See sources for a more comprehensive dive). Long Term mental health issues are those that stay for a very long amount of time, on the span of months to years. These often include PTSD, anxiety, trauma, depression, and a few others. Additionally, many short term mental health issues can easily become long term mental health issues, as the only condition is that they persist long after the Natural Disaster. Survivors are not the only people who are affected, as first responders (EMS, Police, Firefighters, etc), and second responders (Doctors, Nurses, Shelter workers, etc) often face the same issues after natural disasters.

There are many ways to support victims of Natural Disasters, and there are many ways to cope with the mental health issues related to natural disasters. Some common ones include staying off social media, seeking support, communicating and working with others, and many more. It is advised to stay away from self destructive tendencies, distancing from others, and disrupting usual routine. For a better breakdown, please check out the sources, and the Mental Health paper linked here (Mental Health).

So What Can We Do?

There are plenty of ways to work against the effects of natural disasters, attacking both the causes and effects. Acting against climate change and encouraging others to do the same, no matter how much, makes a difference. See if you are able to send resources to people in need after a natural disaster, volunteer to help with cleanup, and work with your community in the event of a natural disaster that affects you. These all play an important role in mitigating damage, physically and mentally, and may mean the difference of a lifetime to anyone affected.

References

Heanoy, E. Z., & Brown, N. R. (2024). Impact of natural disasters on mental health: Evidence and implications. Healthcare, 12(18), 1812–1812. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12181812

Is climate change increasing the risk of disasters? (2023). World Wildlife Fund. https://www.worldwildlife.org/resources/explainers/is-climate-change-increasing-the-risk-of-disasters/

Kalina Velev. (2025, September 26). Global temperature – earth indicator. NASA Science. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/explore/earth-indicators/global-temperature/

Levy-Carrick, N. (2025, January 22). Mental health effects of natural disasters | Mass general Brigham. Massgeneralbrigham.Org. https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/articles/mental-health-effects-natural-disasters
Lindsey, R., & Dahlman, L. (2025, May 29). Climate change: Global temperature. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Climate.Gov. https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature
Neria, Y., Nandi, A., & Galea, S. (2007). Post-traumatic stress disorder following disasters: A systematic review. Psychological Medicine, 38(4), 467–480. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291707001353
Our World in Data. (2023). Number of recorded natural disaster events. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-of-natural-disaster-events
Scatter plot maker & calculator with regression line. (2025, June 21). Scatter Plot Calculator - Easy-to-Use Scatter Plot and Regression Tool. https://scatterplotcalculator.com
UN report: Dramatic rise in climate disaster over last twenty years. (2020, October 12). Undrr.Org. https://www.undrr.org/news/un-report-dramatic-rise-climate-disaster-over-last-twenty-year
VA.gov | veterans affairs. (2016). Va.Gov. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/disaster_events/for_providers/mental_health_impact.asp

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse