CLIMATE SCIENTISTS GRAPPLE WITH MENTAL EXHAUSTION

By Meghie Rodrigues When I first found out the Amazon forest was becoming a source of carbon emissions a few years ago, I was devastated," says Luciana Gatti, a climate scientist at Brazil's National Institute for Space Research in Sâo José dos Campos. Because it has been depleted, the rai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2024-08, Vol.632 (8025), p.695-697
Main Author: Rodrigues, Meghie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
Carbon
Carbon emissions
Carbon sinks
Climate and health
Climate change
Emissions
Emotions
Exhaustion
Field study
Forests
Grief
Hazard assessment
Health hazards
Mental health
Rainforests
Scientists
Space research
Stress
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Summary:By Meghie Rodrigues When I first found out the Amazon forest was becoming a source of carbon emissions a few years ago, I was devastated," says Luciana Gatti, a climate scientist at Brazil's National Institute for Space Research in Sâo José dos Campos. Because it has been depleted, the rainforest is not as efficient as a carbon sink as it used to be. There is a growing body of research around the intersection of climate change and mental health - but climate scientists' well-being rarely comes under the microscope {Nature Mental Health 2,119-120; 2024). Stress is an essential survival mechanism in response to acute risk - but constant exposure takes its toll on physical and mental health. Berenguer notes, however, that the risk-assessment forms that researchers fill in before going into the field cover only physical hazards, not mental health.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/d41586-024-02605-0