Uninsurable Floods, Psilocybin, and Climate Catastrophe
May 29, 2026
Material climate risks are hardening into uninsurable zones and sustained heat events that outpace state adaptation, while public health infrastructure fractures under Ebola and pandemic threats. This systemic care deficit drives a shift toward algorithmic communities for mental health governance and chemical interventions, exposing the erosion of collective resilience in favor of fragmented, platform-mediated survival.
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Climate change: how fires and floods are creating uninsurable areas across Europe
Severe flooding hit the town of Czechowice-Dziedzice, Southern Poland, in September 2024. Ela73/Shutterstock As climate change makes extreme weather events more intense and frequent, “uninsurable areas” are becoming increasingly common. They are a clear demonstration that insurance – the mechanism t…
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We analysed 14 million Reddit posts to reveal a striking shift in how we talk about mental health
Brett Jordan/Pexels More people are relying on social media – such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit – to learn about mental health conditions and to interact with people who have shared experiences. These aren’t only long-familiar disorders such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia. They…
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Ebola outbreak in the DRC: four reasons it will be hard to contain
By the second week of the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo it was already clear that containing the spread of the haemorrhagic disease was proving to be difficult. On 17 May 2026, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international…
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Why Africa – and the world – remain dangerously unprepared for the next pandemic
As the news spread about the outbreak of Ebola in mid-May 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report about pandemics. The title was: A World on the Edge: Priorities for a Pandemic-Resilient Future. The document was prepared by the WHO’s Global Preparedness Monitoring Board. It sets…
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The US is seeing stronger storms, so why are droughts getting worse?
In heavy downpours, it can be harder for water to sink into the ground. John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images About two-thirds of the U.S. is in some stage of drought in late spring 2026, yet at the same time the country has been seeing more intense downpours. It might seem contradictory, but…
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Too hot, too humid: why the sustained heatwave in India and Pakistan is so dangerous
India and Pakistan are no strangers to heat. This time of year is the worst, as heat peaks before the monsoon brings cooler conditions from June. But this year’s heat is something else. Intense, sustained heat began in mid-April. Daily maximum temperatures have topped 46°C in many locations, with so…
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A single dose of psilocybin eased depression symptoms for months, our study found
A row of psilocybin mushrooms. Cannabis Pic/Shutterstock.com A single dose of psilocybin eased symptoms of depression within days, with benefits lasting for more than three months compared to placebo, our new study has found. The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open involved 35 people w…
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Dealing with the heat
In Greece many houses are painted white, research shows this helps homes remain cooler. Kalpokaite Photography/Shutterstock This roundup of The Conversation’s environment coverage was first published in our award-winning weekly climate action newsletter, Imagine. I’m thinking of painting my roof whi…
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