How We Feel

Experiencing floods, wildfires, extreme heat and weather events affects our emotions and behaviour. The number of people who suffer psychological trauma after disaster events is 40 times more than those who have physical injuries.

Power outages, disruptions to transportation, communication and food supply can be temporary, but loss of homes, neighbourhoods and resources may be permanent. Personal or widespread upheaval and forced displacement all increase risks to our mental health, home security and livelihoods.

Climate disasters most severely affect individuals already at risk from insecure homes or mental illness. Psychiatric patients have triple the risk of death from heat stroke, and have increased emergency department visits directly because of heat, but also due to disrupted pharmacy and support service access. Even the effectiveness of medications changes as our bodies heat up, reducing the stability of critical prescription drugs during heat waves.