Night-time Temperatures Soar, Climate Change Steals Sleep Worldwide
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW JERSEY – Climate change is making nights hotter and cutting into people’s sleep across the globe. A recent Climate Central analysis shows that this impact has more than doubled over the last five decades.
In a report written by Michelle Young, Climate Central states that between 2020 and 2025, residents of cities in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates lost roughly 55 to 87 hours of sleep each year due to high night-time temperatures. Of that figure, around 12 to 16 hours were directly attributable to climate change.
“We estimate that people in cities in Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates are losing around 55 to 87 hours of sleep each year because of high night-time temperatures, with roughly 12 to 16 hours of sleep lost due to climate change,” Climate Central said in the report, Sunday (19/7/2026).
A similar impact is being felt in India and several South-East Asian countries, where people lose around 78 to 91 hours of sleep per year due to hot nights. About eight to nine hours of that total sleep loss is caused by climate change.
In West Africa, people in Niger, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso lose roughly 65 hours of sleep each year because of hot night-time temperatures. Around 10 to 11 hours of this is directly driven by climate change.
The Americas are also affected, including the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, and Venezuela. In the United States, some 235 cities lose an average of 36 hours of sleep each year due to hot nights, with around four hours, or 13 per cent, of that influenced by climate change.
Climate Central explained that since the 1970s the world has experienced rising temperatures, population growth, urbanisation, and increased use of air conditioning. However, even after accounting for these factors, climate change remains the primary driver of growing sleep loss from hotter nights.
Between 1970 and 1975, humans lost around two hours of sleep per year due to climate change. That figure has risen to roughly five hours per year in the 2020–2025 period.
Overall, the average urban dweller lost around 46 hours of sleep per year due to hot nights in the early 1970s. By the 2020s, this had climbed to around 50 hours per year, with a far greater contribution from climate change.
Of the 1,338 cities analysed, 1,335 have seen at least a doubling of climate-driven sleep loss. As many as 840 cities have recorded increases of up to threefold.
In 253 US cities, the impact has grown faster than the global average, with sleep loss rising from around one hour per year in the early 1970s to roughly four hours per year in the 2020s.
Climate Central notes that sleep plays a vital role in helping the body cool down. Rising night-time temperatures caused by climate change disrupt this process, reducing both the duration and quality of sleep, particularly on days with extreme heat.
“Sleep plays a crucial role in human health and well-being. Poor sleep is linked to mood, cognitive performance, productivity, and heart and immune health,” Climate Central said.
The report also notes that the impact of climate change on sleep is not evenly distributed. Sleep disruption caused by global warming affects people over the age of 65 roughly twice as much, and people in lower- and middle-income countries around three times as much, compared with high-income countries.
Although air conditioning can reduce the impact of hot nights, ownership remains limited. In 2021, only around 35 per cent of households worldwide had air conditioning, leaving many people — particularly in South Asia and Africa — vulnerable to sleep disruption from rising night-time temperatures.