• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close

AbstractFrequent heatwaves under global warming can increase the risk of preterm birth (PTB), which in turn will affect physical health and human potential over the life course. However, what remains unknown is the extent to which anthropogenic climate change has contributed to such burdens. We combine health impact and economic assessment methods to comprehensively evaluate the entire heatwave-related PTB burden in dimensions of health, human capital and economic costs. Here, we show that during 2010-2020, an average of 13,262 (95%CI 6,962-18,802) PTBs occurred annually due to heatwave exposure in China. In simulated scenarios, 25.8% (95%CI 17.1%-34.5%) of heatwave-related PTBs per year on average can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change, which further result in substantial human capital losses, estimated at over $1 billion costs. Our findings will provide additional impetus for introducing more stringent climate mitigation policies and also call for more sufficient adaptations to reduce heatwave detriments to newborn.

High-temperature exposure has been reported to be associated with depression scores and the risk of hospital visits. However, how heatwaves affect depression severity and the underlying mechanisms remains unclear. Inpatients with depression from the Anhui Mental Health Center in China between January 2020 and December 2023 were included in this retrospective study. The patients were grouped into mild, moderate and severe depression categories according to discharge diagnoses. The effects of heatwaves in two weeks prior to admission on depression severity were assessed based on mixed-effect logistic regression model, and the roles of thyroid hormones were quantified by piecewise structural equation modeling. Stratified analyses were conducted by gender, age, BMI and the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 5,978 inpatients with depression were hospitalized 7,118 times during the study period. The depression severity escalated with the threshold and duration of heatwaves. The risk of more severe depression during heatwave exposure (≥95th percentile, ≥3 days) was 12.4 % (95 % CI: 6.1 %, 19 %) higher compared to non-heatwave conditions. The proportions of mediating effects of thyroid hormones (T3, FT3, T4 and the FT4/FT3 ratio) were 7.7 % (95 % CI: 0.3 %, 20.1 %), 13.6 % (95 % CI: 1.5 %, 30.6 %), 12.8 % (95 % CI: 4.3 %, 25.7 %) and 23.3 % (95 % CI: 11.4 %, 54.1 %) in the influences of heatwaves on depression severity, respectively. Males, young and middle-aged patients, overweight patients, and those hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic, were all more sensitive to heatwaves. Our study showed that heatwaves significantly correlated with depression severity. Thyroid hormones may played potential mediating roles in this association.