Drawing on data from two decades of research in the United States and Mexico, new research published in the journal Nature suggests that increases in temperature correlate positively to increases in suicide rates. The research indicates that suicides, a leading cause of death worldwide, are linked to higher temperatures for a number of reasons both physiological and environmental. Hotter temperatures place increased stress on the body, taxing the thermoregulatory systems and inducing the release of the hormone commonly associated with stress, cortisol, while also disrupting sleep and physical activity routines. These, in addition to other physiological stresses are compounded by the circumstantial effects felt by people in warmer climates, namely disease, drought, and conflict.
