Extreme high temperatures double young people’s risk of mental health admissions, Australian research shows

Exclusive University of Sydney study finds heat-related hospital admissions to increase by at least 6% by the end of the century Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Extreme high temperatures in warmer months double the risk of young people being admitted to hospital for a mental health condition, according to research. The analysis, which looked at 720,000 New South Wales hospital admissions of young people aged up to 24, suggested the climate crisis would aggravate the already declining mental health of young people. As extreme temperatures occur more often because of global heating, heat-related hospital admissions would increase between 6% and 7.7% by the end of the century, the research said. The lead author of the research at the University of Sydney, Dr Wen‑Qiang He, said: “We found that as temperatures increase, we see admissions for these younger populations increase significantly. The risk doubles in the warm season and triples in the cold season. “That’s important for us to know and, if we can let the community know what’s happening, then we can prepare and help our children and young