Climate Change is Costing People Sleep

Climate Central's analysis reveals that the average person globally lost nearly 56 hours of sleep annually due to nighttime heat from 2020 to 2025, with approximately six hours attributed to climate change. The most significant climate-linked sleep losses occurred in Middle Eastern cities, where residents in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE lost between 12 and 16 hours of sleep per year due to climate change. Globally, the amount of temperature-related sleep loss linked to climate change has at least doubled since the early 1970s, increasing from about two hours to five hours per year. Vulnerable populations, including adults over 65 and those in lower-middle-income countries, face higher risks, and while air conditioning provides some protection, access remains unequal and tied to income.

• Between 2020 and 2025, the average person globally lost nearly 56 hours of sleep per year due to nighttime heat, with approximately 10% (about six hours) of that loss attributed to climate change.
• The highest climate change-linked sleep losses were concentrated in the Middle East, specifically in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, where people lost between 12 and 16 hours of sleep annually due to climate change.
• Climate change-related sleep loss has increased significantly since the early 1970s, roughly doubling globally from about two hours per year to about five hours per year by 2020-2025.
• In the United States, climate change-related sleep loss grew from just over one hour per year in the early 1970s to about four hours per year in the 2020s, with the highest losses occurring in Arizona, California, Florida, and Nevada.
• Heat-related sleep loss disproportionately affects certain groups; the impact is more than twice as large for adults over 65 compared to middle-aged adults and nearly three times larger for people in lower-middle-income countries than those in high-income countries.

APA

Climate Central (2026). Climate Change is Costing People Sleep. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/climate-change-sleep-loss

Chicago

Climate Central. Climate Change is Costing People Sleep. 2026. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/climate-change-sleep-loss.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Central |title=Climate Change is Costing People Sleep |date=15 July 2026 |url=https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/climate-change-sleep-loss |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatecentral2026climate, author = {{Climate Central}}, title = {{Climate Change is Costing People Sleep}}, institution = {Climate Central}, year = {2026}, month = jul, url = {https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/climate-change-sleep-loss}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }