People are worried about climate change catastrophes, and for good reason. With Southern California’s fires having already displaced over 100,000 people, 2025 is off to a rough start. And these fires are not the only recent catastrophes. The recurring hurricanes in Florida, record droughts in Spain, intensifying heat waves in Delhi and the continuous episode of coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef are all events that have happened in the last year, making climate anxiety all too common. So, what can we do?
Let’s take a step back. While these catastrophic events have serious impacts on their local and regional communities, they fail to demonstrate how the effects of climate change can be much more gradual and subtle in our daily lives. Small shifts in environmental conditions—such as changes in moisture levels, wind speeds or temperatures—can set off a chain reaction that turns manageable fires into uncontrollable disasters. By honing our ability to observe and interpret these nuanced signals, we can better anticipate when dangerous conditions are emerging, take preventive measures and ultimately save lives and property.
Noticing and talking about the subtle changes is not just crucial to be able to predict, mitigate and react to the next disaster, it’s also crucial to preserving society’s hope for a better future. Headliner events can perpetuate the misbelief or myth that many people today still hold as truth—that climate change only impacts certain parts of the world. This lie is even easier to believe for those who have all their basic needs met and live in safe, well-resourced neighborhoods. Because news of the big events can slowly desensitize and debilitate us from taking real actions to mitigate climate change, we are asking people to notice and articulate the subtle changes earlier to give them the power to act now.
As a science communicator, it is my responsibility to share the truth: that unfortunately every single individual in this world is impacted by climate change and that we need to act now to prevent those impacts from getting worse.
But let’s start on a smaller scale so that even those who are not at the frontlines of forest fires and flooding see how climate change is a part of their lives. The subtle impacts of climate change are hard to notice because they can be very nuanced. It’s no wonder that we don’t acknowledge many of them. However, many are extremely dangerous in ways we don’t expect, and are influencing us daily.
For example, a group of researchers in Spain looked into how heat waves are increasing intimate partner violence. Their study, published in 2018, analyzed police reports and telephone help line calls received from a community in Madrid over an eight-year period, and found that the risk of intimate partner femicides increases three days after the heat wave. There is also a potential increase of gender-based violence during or after extreme events (flood, heatwaves, hurricane, drought, etc.) caused by climate change. And, even when the situation doesn’t get violent, research has shown a strong correlation between increased temperature and humidity variation with increased psychiatric emergencies visits. Climate change profoundly impacts mental health by increasing the emotional distress to anxiety, depression, grief and even suicidal behavior.
And let’s check in on an even more subtle level. Did you know that sleep is eroding globally due to climate change? With our current weather patterns and inconsistencies of seasons that humans and other animals have relied on for millions of years, it’s no wonder people are not getting sufficient sleep. But what is the link between climate change and mental well being? These subtle impacts on our day-to-day lives arise due to factors such as economic instability, food insecurity, mental stress, loss of control, disrupted infrastructure, lack of sleep and loss of productivity, which are all being reshaped and manipulated by the change in our weather and environment. It’s much more complex than associating a hot day with someone’s stress levels, although that scenario is also happening.
We won’t attempt to unravel that complexity here, rather, we will start small by helping people begin to think about how climate change is changing their lives. To uncover some of the day-to-day impacts felt around the globe, we spoke to our community of artists and science communicators and asked them to tell us how their own lives are being shaped by today’s climate.
Ian Cooke-Tapia, Creative Director at Cooked Illustration in Cardiff, Wales, shares his experience,
“Three years ago, there was a heatwave in Wales. My house wasn’t built for such high temperatures, and it fried my computer system, forcing me to buy a new one. The extreme heat also reduced my productivity and impacted my mental health. As a freelancer, the hours I do not work are hours I do not get paid for. The inability to work during the heatwave made it harder to focus and work, which in turn reduced my income and that spiked my stress. It was much worse because I couldn’t sleep at night on top of it all.”
Similarly, Núria Taberner, a Scientific Illustrator at VIZCIE, described the toll of rising temperature in Japan this past summer.
“My productivity is definitely lower with the increased heat,” she says. “A few days ago, my computer overheated while working! I had to buy an extra fan and set the air conditioner to 30°C just to keep it alive while performing heavy tasks like rendering.”
While both Nuria and Ian share technological challenges, their stories underscore the emotional stress of adapting to climate change and how unpredictable these impacts could be.
Beyond immediate productivity and mental health issues, our community members reflected on how today’s reality differs from their experiences growing up. They noted how shifting climates have introduced unexpected obstacles in daily life, reshaping both personal and professional decisions.
“I remember keeping a thicker blanket by the end of the bed every night as a child during the summer because around 3 in the morning, the wind would go still, and the colder air from the sea would move in. We call this 'La Silampa,' a drop of maybe five to ten degrees celsius depending on local conditions. In my recent visits home during the summer, I’ve noticed it is definitely not as cold as it used to be and the nights are much less refreshing.”
Ian recounts his experience of growing up in Panama City and how it has changed over the years due to climate change. He grew up in Panama City and moved to Wales in 2013.
Elena recounts a similar experience while growing up in Russia. She mentions,
“Summers used to be quiet and slightly warm with temperatures maxing out at around 25°C. But now the average temperature here is approximately 35 °C. Earlier, September was never hot, but it’s very hot now. Also, wildfires have increased since 2010. Previously, these incidents happened once in two decades, but now it's a regular, almost annual affair.”
In our conversations, almost everyone we spoke to said that extreme heat waves have increased in traditionally colder regions of the UK, Italy, the US, Japan and other parts of the world. They agreed that most of the infrastructure is not built for such high temperatures.
Sonia Guarnerio, Research Scientist at EPS Diagnostics, says that
“English summers have become more or less like Mediterranean summers, and the houses are not equipped for hot weather.”
Sonia grew up in the small village of Pianura Padana in the Po Valley of Italy.
Furthermore, droughts have increased drastically, impacting agricultural produce globally. Spain's agri-food sector is considered the engine of European Union growth. The country has faced repeated and more severe droughts in the last few years which has impacted consumers through the drastic rise in food prices, an issue which then leads to inflation.
“Droughts in Spain have forced the government to restrict the usage of water, allowing only 200 liters per day to each individual, requiring a daily shower to be 10 minutes or less,” says Núria.
Elena moved to Spain a decade ago and recalled a recent incident. She said,
“This past year, there was a drought in Spain, which clearly affected agriculture. But more subtly, I noticed that when my friends and I went camping at a lake that was supposed to be huge, the lake was half its normal size. We were expecting a lake we could kayak on and other lakes and a river nearby, but those were non-existent. When we went looking for them, all we found was a puddle of water and a trickling creek.” She adds, “The impact of those droughts was seen in the price rise of fruits and vegetables even for the produce that was considered ‘in season.’ Olive oil has risen in price twice or three times already. It’s like it’s the new gold.”
As a testament to Elena’s observations, The Guardian reported that shoplifters in Spain were looting olive oil after the extreme weather damaged the harvests for a second year in a row.
Dried up lakes and expensive groceries are just a few examples shared. There’s also an influx of harmful microbes threatening the health of native flora and fauna. Rising global temperatures due to climate change have resulted in more invasive pests and microbes attacking trees and plants. Over the past decades, numerous new tree diseases have emerged. Xylella fastidiosa is now devastating olive trees in the Mediterranean region, another reason why olive oil is like gold. Sonia, who now works and resides in the UK, shared a heartbreaking story about her trip to Italy last summer:
"My family’s favorite place is Puglia, the very southern point of the country. Throughout the whole of the Puglia region, we would admire infinite lands of olive trees, evenly planted one after the other. But, on my last trip to Puglia, my heart was broken. The olive trees were destroyed by this bacterial infection. These places were once beautiful landscapes of olive trees. I wanted to proudly show the place to my English boyfriend, but the sight was just devastating."
Núria, who migrated to Japan five years ago, shares a similar story with respect to the cherry blossoms. But, it isn’t bacteria messing with their life cycles, it’s the inconsistent seasons. She describes,
“The Japanese have cherished cherry trees (Sakura) since the Edo period (1600-1800 AD), celebrating their springtime blooms. However, in recent years, Sakura have begun blooming earlier than usual. Similarly, the Japanese also admire the vibrant red autumn leaves, known as koyo or momiji, seen in trees like Japanese maples and Sakura. Unfortunately, many Sakura trees have lost their leaves prematurely over the past three years, likely due to severe summers and a shortened autumn season.”
Núria’s story reminds us that cultures and traditional celebrations can be undermined by the shifting of seasons and loss of biodiversity around the planet.
Seasonal shifts and warming climates stimulates a rise in insects. The invasion by red beetle pests (Aromia bungii) in Japan and the global bug migration has resulted in new diseases of trees in the Prunus genus, such as apricot, cherry, peach and plum, as well as some ornamental Prunus species. Nuria recollects that “the infection caused by these bugs has resulted in the loss of trees which has impacted many popular viewing spots for Sakura.” Some studies predict that climate change could result in the complete loss of cherry blossoms in Japan within this century.
While problems such as computers overheating and feeling too tired to keep up with our society’s fast-paced and overworked culture are trivial compared to the disproportionate effects of climate change that people in under-resourced and low-income communities are facing, we as science communicators have a responsibility to raise awareness of how climate change is influencing our lives on multiple levels, because it is at these levels we can notice and take action. By sharing stories of the gradual, smaller changes occurring due to climate change alongside the big headlines of catastrophic storms, droughts and fires, we are building a more complete understanding of how everything on our planet is linked. And, each story carries its own potential to help people reflect on and change their lifestyles at any level.
We now ask you to notice the subtleties, the gradual changes, the undetected shifts that go unnoticed until it’s too late. What weather patterns and seasons have changed since you were a child? How has climate change affected your lifestyle in the last five years? What about in the past year?
Sharing our stories, acknowledging these changes and taking action to mitigate them today may help someone on the other side of the world not have to face the ultimatum of either safeguarding their health or forfeiting their earnings during an extreme heatwave.
Martin Niemöller's famous quote from World War II serves as a powerful reminder of our own responsibilities to speak up and act.
“First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
No matter how you identify yourself, we are all part of a larger ecosystem that needs our help. How will you speak up to shift the narrative of climate action? How might you be inspired to take action to help your neighbors across the street and across the world? We believe that action starts with a story. What is yours?
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