%0 Journal Article
%T Extreme Weather Events and Mental Health: Tackling the Psychosocial Challenge
%A Jyotsana Shukla
%J ISRN Public Health
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/127365
%X Climate change is an emerging challenge to the mental health of entire humanity. Several studies, in recent times, have brought to light the adverse public mental health outcomes of extreme weather events for the suffering communities. The general public and the policy making bodies need to gain awareness about these impacts. Through such awareness, communities and their governments can institutionalize mechanisms to provide psychological support to the populations affected by climate change, before it becomes a massive public health challenge and starts affecting the social and vocational lives of people. There is an urgent need for addressing these impacts. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the deleterious effects of climate change related extreme weather events on mental health, the worldwide response of several communities to such events, and preparedness of the public and government to deal with these adverse mental health impacts. Policy imperatives to prevent and mitigate these impacts have been suggested. It is hoped that the psychologists, governments, and communities will act earnestly to prevent the impending harm to human mental health due to climate change. 1. Introduction Climate change is conceived as a long-term change in the average weather of a particular location [1]. According to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (article 1 [1]), climate change refers to change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to a clearly evident human activity, and which could be measured as well [2]. Despite awareness, there is a lot of antipathy as well as procrastination towards formulating policies to reign in climate change. Countries like US and UK are evading the issue of tackling climate change through reduced carbon emissions. Europe, while reiterating its commitment to reduce its carbon emissions significantly, continues to encourage emissions, by indulging in import of carbon intensive goods from overseas [3]. 2. Extreme Weather Events Global warming is increasing the rates of the earth¡¯s hydrological cycle, and as a result of which we are witnessing extreme weather events such as more intense, frequent, and lengthy periods of droughts, more news of cloud bursts, and heavy precipitation events, as well as the resultant flooding [4]. In recent times, we have seen large-scale flooding in Pakistan; landslides in China; heat, drought, and wildfires in Russia; and record floods and heat waves, hurricanes in the US, that have left deaths, destruction, and displacement, in their aftermath [5]. These
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.public.health/2013/127365/