Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-2 (section)

=== FAQ 2.4 | How does nature benefit human health and well-being and how does climate change affect this? ===

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''Human health and well-being are highly dependent on the ‘health’ of nature. Nature provides material and economic services that are essential for human health and productive livelihoods. Studies also show that being in ‘direct contact with natural environments’ has direct positive effects on well-being, health and socio-cognitive abilities. Therefore, the loss of species and biodiversity due to climate change will reduce natural spaces and, in turn, decrease human well-being and health worldwide.''

Human health and well-being are highly dependent on the ‘health’ of nature. Biodiversity—the variety of genes, species, communities and ecosystems—provides services that are essential for human health and productive livelihoods, such as breathable air, drinkable water, productive oceans and fertile soils for growing food and fuels. Natural ecosystems also help store carbon and regulate climate, floods, disease, pollution and water quality. The loss of species, leading to reduced biodiversity, has direct and measurable negative effects on all of these essential services, and therefore on humankind. A recent demonstration of this is the decline of pollinator species, with potential negative effects on crop pollination, a fundamental ecosystem function crucial for agriculture. The loss of wild relatives of the domesticated varieties that humans rely on for agriculture reduces the genetic variability that may be needed to support the adaptation of crops to future environmental and social challenges.

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'''Figure FAQ2.4.1 |''' '''The positive relationship between human health and well-being and nature conservation.''' Nature provides essential services to humans including material and economic services (i.e., ecosystem services) as well as cultural, experiential and recreational services, which, in turn, enhance human psychological and physical health and well-being. People who are more connected to nature are not only happier and healthier but are also more likely to engage in pro-nature behaviours, making the enhancement of human–nature connectedness worldwide a valuable win–win solution for humans and nature to face environmental challenges.

The number of species that can be lost before negative impacts occur is not known and is likely to differ in different systems. However, in general, more diverse systems are more resilient to disturbances and able to recover from extreme events more quickly. Biodiversity loss means there are fewer connections within an ecosystem. A simpler food web with fewer interactions means less redundancy in the system, reducing the stability and ability of plants and animal communities to recover from disturbances and extreme weather events such as floods and drought.

In addition to ‘material’ and economic services such as eco-tourism, nature also provides cultural services such as recreation, spirituality and well-being. Specifically, being in ‘direct contact with natural environments’ (vs. an urban environment) has a high positive impact on human well-being (e.g., mood, happiness), psychological and physical health (energy, vitality, heart rate, depression) and socio-cognitive abilities (attention, memory, hyperactivity, altruism, cooperation). Therefore, the loss of species from climate change and urbanisation will reduce natural spaces, decrease biodiversity, and, in turn, decrease human well-being and health worldwide.

Finally, the extent to which humans consider themselves part of the natural world—known as human-nature connectedness—has been demonstrated to be closely associated with human health and well-being. Individuals who are more connected to nature are not only happier and healthier but also tend to engage more in pro-nature behaviours, making the enhancement of human–nature connectedness worldwide a valuable win–win solution for humans and nature to face environmental challenges.

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