Five reasons

How climate change is driving us to alcohol and drugs

The potential damage of climate change goes beyond the body's ability to cope with extreme heat or cold.(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

"If we carry on like this now, there will only be two choices for you afterwards: alcohol or psychotropic drugs," warned Chancellor Karl Nehammer in the face of massive inflation in the summer of 2022. However, these words of warning are also likely to be relevant in relation to climate change. Researchers have outlined five scenarios of how it could drive us increasingly into addiction to alcohol and other drugs.

Scientists agree that climate change will affect every aspect of our health and wellbeing. However, the potential damage goes beyond the body's ability to cope with extreme heat or cold.

Droughts, storms, wildfires and floods are also likely to have an increasing impact on the psyche, driving people to turn to alcohol, nicotine, over-the-counter and prescription drugs or other psychoactive substances.