Climate change and the psychosomatic health of animals: Mechanisms, manifestations, and mitigation strategies

Abstract

Climate change is progressively reshaping environmental conditions in ways that significantly affect the psy-chosomatic health of animals across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Rising temperatures, more frequent and prolonged heat waves, altered precipitation patterns, habitat instability, nutritional stress, and the expanding distribu-tion of pathogens and vectors create persistent environmental pressures rather than isolated acute challenges. These stressors activate sustained neuroendocrine, immune, metabolic, and behavioral responses that may initially support adaptation but, under chronic exposure, shift toward maladaptive psychosomatic outcomes. Prolonged activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, autonomic imbalance, low-grade inflammation, oxidative stress, and dis-rupted gut-brain-immune communication collectively contribute to multisystem dysfunction. This review synthe-sizes current evidence on the biological pathways linking climate-related stressors with systemic dysregulation. Attention is given to neuroendocrine-immune interactions, inflammatory sensitization, metabolic strain under ther-mal load, and environmentally driven changes in behavioral ecology. We emphasize the role of early-life exposure and developmental programming in shaping long-term stress responsivity, as well as species-specific sensitivity thresholds and the cumulative burden of repeated environmental challenges. Clinical and subclinical manifestations of climate-induced psychosomatic disturbances are examined, including stress-associated gastrointestinal and der-matological disorders, impaired thermoregulation, reduced immune competence, reproductive disruption, and cog-nitive or affective abnormalities such as anxiety-like behavior and social withdrawal. Many of these conditions emerge gradually and may remain undetected without integrative monitoring. Finally, we outline practical mitiga-tion strategies based on microclimate management, nutritional and metabolic resilience, behavioral stabilization, adaptive acclimation, and precision monitoring technologies for early detection of maladaptive trajectories. By integrating mechanistic insights with applied veterinary and management perspectives, this review highlights the need for interdisciplinary approaches to safeguard animal health and welfare in a rapidly changing climate.