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Climate warming may undermine sleep duration and quality in repeated-measure study of 23 million records

Author

Listed:
  • Anni Li

    (Fudan University)

  • Huihuan Luo

    (Fudan University)

  • Yixiang Zhu

    (Fudan University)

  • Zheqi Zhang

    (Chinese PLA General Hospital)

  • Binbin Liu

    (Chinese PLA General Hospital)

  • Haidong Kan

    (Fudan University)

  • Huixun Jia

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine)

  • Zhenyu Wu

    (Fudan University)

  • Yutao Guo

    (Chinese PLA General Hospital)

  • Renjie Chen

    (Fudan University)

Abstract

The impact of rising ambient temperatures on sleep and its phases under climate change is becoming increasingly concerning but remains underexplored. Sleep, consisting of non-rapid eye movement and rapid eye movement phases, is crucial for health, and insufficient sleep in either phase could have significant implications. Based on sleep monitoring data of 23 million days from 214,445 participants across mainland China, we investigated how daily average temperature affected sleep. For each 10 °C increase in ambient temperature, the odds of sleep insufficiency increased by 20.1%, while total sleep duration decreased by 9.67 minutes, with deep sleep declining the most (by 2.82%). Projections under the unrestricted (SSP5-8.5) greenhouse gas emission scenario suggest that by the end of the century, sleep insufficiency could rise by 10.50%, with an annual loss of 33.28 hours of sleep per person. These findings highlight the potential of climate warming to exacerbate sleep deprivation and degrade sleep quality, especially for the elderly, women, individuals with obesity, and regions of South, Centre and East.

Suggested Citation

  • Anni Li & Huihuan Luo & Yixiang Zhu & Zheqi Zhang & Binbin Liu & Haidong Kan & Huixun Jia & Zhenyu Wu & Yutao Guo & Renjie Chen, 2025. "Climate warming may undermine sleep duration and quality in repeated-measure study of 23 million records," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-57781-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57781-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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