A significant link between India’s growing cases of suicide and increasing climate temperatures has been found by a newly-published study, raising concerns on the grave consequences of climate change.
The study, conducted by Tamma A. Carleton of the University of California, Berkeley, estimated that warming in the last 30 years was responsible for 59,300 suicides among farmers in India.
Reviewing 47 years of suicide records and climate data, Carleton found that high temperatures increased suicide rates, specifically in the country’s agricultural growing season when the heat lowered crop yields.
“While some aspects of climate impacts are relatively easy to observe and measure, such as crop yields or national GDP, other key indicators of human well being are much harder to quantify.”
The study appears to be among the few that aimed to quantify the association between climate change and suicide rates in India. In particular, it found that for a day above 20°C (68°F), an increase of 1°C causes an average of 67 suicides.
“Suicide is a heartbreaking indicator of human hardship, and the finding that this phenomenon is affected by a changing climate implies that it is essential to quantify its effect and consider this relationship as we build climate policy for the future,” Carleton added.
Carleton stressed that climate change, however, must not be the only absolute cause of the spike in suicide rates. There are other considerations worth looking at, such as healthcare access and religious practices.
Still, the finding easily warrants attention, considering that South Asia, where India is geographically a part of, is expected to have temperatures that exceed habitable levels by 2100, according to another recent study
by Eun-Soon Im, Jeremy S. Pal and Elfatih A. B. Eltahir of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Loyola Marymount University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively.
“With the disruption to the agricultural production, it doesn’t need to be the heat wave itself that kills people. Production will go down, so potentially everyone will suffer.”
If anything, these studies must be instrumental in India’s policy-making so that it can safeguard the future of its population. The country alone has, unfortunately, accounted for nearly 30%
of global suicide rates, so we could only wish for the better.
Uunganisho kati ya kuongezeka kwa visa vya kujiua nchini India na kuongezeka kwa joto la hali ya hewa umegunduliwa na utafiti uliotangazwa hivi karibuni, na kuibua wasiwasi juu ya athari mbaya za mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa. Tamma A. Carleton, Mtaalamu wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti Baada ya kuchunguza rekodi za miaka 47 ya mauaji na data za hali ya hewa, Carleton aligundua kuwa joto la juu liliongeza viwango vya mauaji, haswa katika msimu wa kilimo wa nchi wakati joto lilipopunguza mavuno ya mazao. "Wakati baadhi ya mambo ya athari za hali ya hewa ni rahisi kuchunguza na kupima, kama vile mavuno ya mazao au Pato la Taifa, viashiria vingine muhimu vya ustawi wa binadamu ni vigumu zaidi kuhesabiwa. ""Utafiti unaonekana kuwa miongoni mwa wachache ambao walikusudia kuhesabu uhusiano kati ya mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa na viwango vya kujiua nchini India." Kwa mfano, kwa siku moja, joto la joto la juu ya 20 ° C (68 ° F) linaongeza joto la joto la 1 ° C na kusababisha wastani wa mauaji 67 ya kujiua. "Ujiua ni kiashiria cha uchungu wa binadamu, na kugundua kwamba jambo hili linaathiriwa na mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa ina maana kwamba ni muhimu kuhesabu athari zake na kuzingatia uhusiano huu tunapojenga sera ya hali ya hewa kwa siku zijazo. """ Carleton alisisitiza kwamba mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa, hata hivyo, hayapaswi kuwa sababu pekee ya kuongezeka kwa viwango vya kujiua. Kuna mambo mengine yanayostahili kuzingatiwa, kama vile upatikanaji wa huduma za afya na mazoea ya kidini. Hata hivyo, utafiti huo unastahili uangalifu, kwa kuzingatia kwamba Asia Kusini, ambapo India ni sehemu ya kijiografia, inatarajiwa kuwa na joto ambalo linazidi viwango vya kuishi ifikapo mwaka 2100, kulingana na utafiti mwingine wa hivi karibuni uliofanywa na Eun-Soon Im, Jeremy S. Pal na Elfatih A. B. Eltahir wa Chuo Kikuu cha Sayansi na Teknolojia cha Hong Kong, Chuo Kikuu cha Loyola Marymount na Taasisi ya Teknolojia ya Massachusetts, kwa mtiririko huo. <unk>Kwa kuvurugwa kwa uzalishaji wa kilimo, haihitaji kuwa wimbi la joto lenyewe ambalo linaua watu. "Uzalishaji utapungua, kwa hivyo uwezekano wa kila mtu atateseka. ""Ikiwa kitu chochote, masomo haya lazima yawe muhimu katika utengenezaji wa sera za India ili iweze kulinda siku zijazo za idadi yake ya watu." Nchi hiyo pekee, kwa bahati mbaya, inawakilisha karibu 30% ya viwango vya kujiua ulimwenguni, kwa hivyo tunaweza tu kutamani bora.