By the end of this century, warmer temperatures will cost humans an average of 50 to 58 hours of sleep per person per year, according to a new study in the journal One Earth.
Researchers used weather data and information from devices tracking sleep to measure the effect of excess heat on sleep. More than 47,600 people in 68 countries wore sleep-tracking wristbands between Sept. 2015 and Oct. 2017.
"We found that nights that were randomly warmer than average eroded human sleep duration within individuals globally," said study co-author Kelton Minor, a doctoral student in planetary social and behavioral data science at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark,."We estimated that people slept less and the probability of having a short night of sleep increased as nights became hotter.
The effect of lost sleep isn’t just a matter of comfort. Lack of sleep has a host of potential health implications, including heart disease and mental health problems.“A lack of sleep has been associated with reduced cognitive performance, diminished productivity, compromised immune function, adverse cardiovascular outcomes, depression, anger, and suicidal behavior,” the One Earth article notes. “High ambient temperatures have been associated with reduced subjective sleep quality.
The diminished rest will not be evenly distributed. It will fall much harder on developing countries with warmer climates, such as India, where air conditioning and reliable electricity are scarce. It will also affect women more than men and the elderly more than the young, because the body’s ability to regulate temperature decreases with age.
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