LONDON (dpa-AFX) – Experts use drastic figures to point out the health consequences of the climate crisis. Even if the average global temperature increase remained at just under two degrees compared to pre-industrial times, the number of global heat deaths would rise by 370 percent by the middle of the century, write the authors of the “Lancet Countdown on health and climate change.” . 114 international experts led by Marina Romanello from University College London (Great Britain) published the report in the specialist magazine “The Lancet”.
People worldwide are now exposed to twice as many days of extreme heat as in the period 1986 to 2005. This is particularly life-threatening for small children and older people. The number of heat-related deaths of people over 65 years of age has recently increased by 85 percent compared to the years 1991 to 2000. “Inaction will cost us dearly. We cannot afford to be so inactive – the price for this is human lives,” Romanello said, according to a statement./fm/DP/mis