--- title: Higher Temperatures Linked to Increase in Suicide Rate description: A study of decades of U.S. and Mexican data showed an increase in suicide rates when temperatures rose by 1 degree canonical: https://time.com/5346900/climate-change-temperature-suicide/ author: Siobhan Morrin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-24T14:40:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:56:11.641Z article:section: Health og:title: Study Links Rising Temperatures to Increased Risk of Suicide og:description: Offering new understanding of climate change's connection to mental health og:url: https://time.com/5346900/climate-change-temperature-suicide/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Study Links Rising Temperatures to Increased Risk of Suicide twitter:description: Offering new understanding of climate change's connection to mental health twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # A New Study Links Rising Temperatures to an Increased Risk of Suicide > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Siobhan Morrin](https://time.com/author/siobhan-morrin/) ## Siobhan Morrin Jul 24, 2018 2:40 PM UTC by [Siobhan Morrin](https://time.com/author/siobhan-morrin/) ## Siobhan Morrin Jul 24, 2018 2:40 PM UTC Suicide rates tend to rise during months with above-normal temperatures, according to a study published Monday that offers a new understanding of the potential link between climate change and mental health. The article, which was published in the journal [_Nature Climate Change_](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0222-x.epdf?referrer%5Faccess%5Ftoken=A9qM8HOuzsaVg4u1HHe6lNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0Od0PBRrqjld84cND8FX46EXQXeVI2E2Repk6was59BX9PDeqt2Z7Otq3pC5-smJOzgioBc34gddJjBjUicxEjPqBP9UM-jOutm6FIoG1sg%5F7adH%5Fk2fX-WoZnGe2ZTqWcbnv%5FgmPQunxqENlB6LNFAeh%5FTvphjhuawiTfRvor5rNiWrPI8IbpOe5Ihui1ezUm2Xo8rmKfMYGxdycdbySxs6n9-K4bCkKLiz58WTZmApj6EAfje5v-FqT2UPa%5FHkNI%3D&tracking%5Freferrer=www.theatlantic.com), analyzed data from thousands of American and Mexican neighborhoods over several decades and found that when temperatures rose 1 degree Celsius above the average in a given month, suicide rates climbed by about 0.7% in the U.S. and 2.1% in Mexico. The researchers’ analysis of “depressive language” across 600 million social media updates suggested that overall mental wellbeing deteriorated during periods of higher than average temperatures as well. The researchers, who controlled for other factors while examining the link between monthly temperatures and suicide rates, concluded that “suicide rates in both a developed and a middle-income country are robustly associated with local temperatures.” The study’s authors predict that “unmitigated climate change” could result in between 9,000 and 40,000 more suicides in the U.S. and Mexico over the next three decades, “representing a change in suicide rates comparable to the estimated impact of economic recessions, suicide prevention programs or gun restriction laws.” Recent studies [have found](https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/31/health/climate-change-two-degrees-studies/index.html) that the Earth’s global temperature is on track to increase by more than 2 degrees Celsius over the rest of the century. “The large magnitude of our results adds further impetus to better understand why temperature affects suicide and to implement policies to mitigate future temperature rise,” reads the study. However, correlation does not imply causation, and many disparate factors contribute to suicide risk. Several studies have shown links between climate change and mental health, whether direct or indirect. The study’s authors pointed to [research from India](http://www.pnas.org/content/114/33/8746) that showed a link between crop-damaging temperatures and suicide rates. This study’s authors focused on suicide since it is one of the top causes of death worldwide, particularly in wealthier nations. Suicide is the [tenth leading cause of death](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm) in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the [suicide rate increased](https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/suicide/) by more than 25% between 1999 and 2016. _If you or someone you know may be contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5346900/climate-change-temperature-suicide/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5346900/climate-change-temperature-suicide/"},"headline":"A New Study Links Rising Temperatures to an Increased Risk of Suicide","datePublished":"2018-07-24T14:40:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:56:11.641Z","description":"Offering new understanding of climate change's connection to mental health","url":"https://time.com/5346900/climate-change-temperature-suicide/","keywords":["Mental Health/Psychology","climate change","onetime","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Siobhan Morrin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/siobhan-morrin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mental-healthpsychology/","name":"Mental Health/Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5346900/climate-change-temperature-suicide/","name":"A New Study Links Rising Temperatures to an Increased Risk of Suicide"}}]}] ```