🥵 Heat Ruins People's Mood, MIT Finds With AI
Researchers from MIT and the Chinese Academy of Sciences analyzed 1.2 billion posts from Twitter and China's Weibo in 2019, written by users across 157 countries and in 65 different languages. Using AI, they measured the sentiment of each post on a scale from 0 to 1, from extremely negative to highly positive, and matched those scores with local temperatures on posting days.
🌡 The Breaking Point
They found that mood worsened as temperatures rose. In some northern regions, a slight increase in warmth actually improved sentiment, but once temperatures exceeded 35°C, mood scores plummeted. Posts from lower-income countries showed a 25% decrease in positive sentiment, while in wealthier countries the decline was closer to 8%.
The reason for the gap isn't entirely clear, but having air conditioning at home or a backyard pool probably helps cushion the mood drop.
Looking ahead and taking climate change projections into account, the researchers estimate that by 2100 the world's "average mood" could decline by 2.3% due to rising heat. That might not sound like much, but it means billions of people will be feeling worse more often.
So, how do you handle the heat?
🔥 — Love it, the hotter the better
🎃 — Hate it, ruins my mood
👀 — What heat? Haven't seen much this summer
