Climate change is making temperatures deadlier and food less reliable, experts warn

Climate change, driven by fossil fuel emissions, is sending temperatures soaring to dangerous new heights while also worsening drought and food security, a new report from doctors and health experts warned on Tuesday.

The record temperatures of 2023 – the hottest year on record – meant that the average person would have to deal with 50 more days of dangerous temperatures than without climate change, according to the Lancet Countdown, an annual report based on the work of dozens of experts and academic institutions. and UN agencies, including the World Health Organization.

Older people are especially vulnerable: the number of heat-related deaths among people over 65 last year reached a level 167% higher than the number of such deaths in the 1990s. Without climate change, researchers expected this number to increase by 65% ​​from the 1990s, the report said.

“Year after year, deaths directly linked to climate change are increasing,” said Marina Belén Romanello, executive director of the Lancet Countdown.

“But heat not only affects mortality and increasing numbers of deaths, but also increases the diseases and pathologies associated with heat exposure,” she said.

For example, people who exercise outdoors are increasingly at risk, she said. Companies are faced with limited capacity to work outside.

In fact, last year’s extreme heat cost the world an estimated 512 billion potential labor hours, worth hundreds of billions of dollars in potential revenue, the report said.

“Similar to what we saw with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is key workers who are most exposed and who cannot easily protect themselves during heatwaves, such as those working in one of our many hospitals without air conditioning, or construction workers outside. ,” said data scientist Nathan Cheetham of King’s College London in a statement. Cheetham was not involved in the investigation.

Climate change also makes food more unreliable, the authors warned.

With as much as 48% of the world’s land area experiencing extreme drought last year, about 151 million more people would face food insecurity compared to the years 1981-2010, according to the researchers.

Extreme rainfall last year also affected roughly 60% of the country, causing flooding and increasing the risk of water pollution or infectious diseases.

The study’s authors urged the upcoming UN climate summit, COP29, to focus climate finance on public health. The COP29 talks will begin on November 11 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on countries to “cure the disease of climate inaction” by cutting fossil fuel use and emissions to “create a fairer, safer and healthier future for all.”