Depression and anxiety afflict Americans who are concerned with the fate of the environment, according to a study of the mental health effects of climate change.
Most hard-hit are women and people with low incomes who worry about the planet's long-term health, said the study published this week in the journal Global Environmental Change.
Symptoms include restless nights, feelings of loneliness and lethargy.
"Climate change is a persistent global stressor," said Sabrina Helm, lead author of the paper, said.
Risks to mental health from climate change are a "creeping development," she said.
Due to climate change, scientists predict sea levels are on track to surge as temperatures rise, posing threats such as deadly heat, extreme weather and land swallowed by rising water.
World leaders mobilised to curb man-made greenhouse gas emissions to fight global warming in a 2015 agreement, although the United States has since said it would withdraw from the landmark deal.
Signs of depression do not appear in people concerned about climate change's risks to humanity but do appear in people worried about its impact on other species, plants and nature overall, the research said.
