Publications on climate change and the health of populations are burgeoning,1,2 and the relationship between climate change and government actions continues to provoke heated international debate.3,4 Climate is well known to affect the mental health of individuals.5,6 In addition, and of relevance to governments, the relationship between a sense of health and well-being and voter behaviour has been examined.7 However, although it is recognised that climate can affect voter turnout, and elections have been disrupted by inclement weather,8,9 the link between climate and government change has hitherto received no attention in the international literature.
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- 1. Kovats RS, Bouma MJ, Hajat S, et al. El Nino and health. Lancet 2003; 362: 1481-1489.
- 2. McMichael A, Campbell-Lendrum D, Corvalán CF, et al, editors. Climate change and human health. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2003.
- 3. Ghazi P. Talks on climate change collapse in acrimony. BMJ 2000; 321: 1367.
- 4. Shearman D. Time and tide wait for no man. BMJ 2002; 325: 1466-1468.
- 5. Lucht M, Kasper S. Gender differences in seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Arch Womens Ment Health 1999; 2: 83-89.
- 6. Cyr K. Mental health, mood and perceptual responses to meteorological conditions [dissertation]. Abstracts Int: Sect B: Sci Eng 1995; 56 (2-B): 1088.
- 7. Bazargan M, Kang T, Bazargan S. A multivariate comparison of elderly African Americans’ and Caucasians’ voting behaviour: how do social, health, psychological and political variables affect their voting? Int J Aging Hum Dev 1991; 32: 181-198.
- 8. CNN. Election 2000. Snow, rain on Election Day ballot. 7 Nov 2000. Available at: www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/11/07/election.day.weather (accessed Oct 2004).
- 9. Fablis: online encyclopedia. Voter turnout. Available at: http://encyclopedia.fablis.com/index.php/Voter_turnout (accessed Oct 2004).
- 10. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC news online. Australia votes. Federal election. October 9, 2004. Changing seats. Available at: www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2004/results/changing.htm (accessed Nov 2004).
- 11. Weather forecast. The Weekend Australian 2004; 9-10 Oct: 49.
- 12. Walsh K. Howard wins his place in history. The Sun-Herald 2004; 10 Oct: 1.
I thank Dr Rick Iedema, University of New South Wales, Sydney, for discussion about the hypothesis tested in this study.
I have worked for the media organisations Fairfax and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, have voted in elections and have prayed for fine weather.