Anthropogenic climate change refers to changes in the climate that can be linked to human activities (i.e. the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and agricultural activities) as opposed to natural changes and events (i.e. earthquakes and volcanic eruptions). It has been argued that key uses of anthropogenic climate change are the burning of fossil fuels which produce carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide and trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere, deforestation limiting the ability of the natural environment to reduce greenhouse gasses and agricultural activity increasing methane emission. These changes in climate, evidenced by global temperature rise, rising sea levels, and shrinking ice sheets, have both direct and indirect effects on global health.
It has been argued that anthropogenic climate change is linked to global psychological health due to changes in quality of life (Wellcome Trust, 2022). The direct psychological effects of climate events (i.e. risk to life, destruction of property) have been argued in a previous descriptive systematic review by Cipriano et al, (2020) to increase the prevalence and severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression. While indirect psychological effects can result from negative emotions due to witnessing or anticipating climate change, increasing ambient temperatures intensifying symptoms of mood disorders, as well as psychosocial stressors due to loss of geographically based connections and identities due to forced migration