Impact of pollution, climate change - lethal heat waves threaten third of world population, 75 percent by 2100

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Deadly Heat Waves Threaten Third of the World
Currently, nearly a third of the world's population is exposed to lethal climate conditions for at least 20 days a year, according to findings published Monday in Nature Climate Change, a monthly peer-reviewed journal. As the planet's temperature rises, more of the world's population will be exposed to conditions that trigger deadly heat waves, the report said.

For a city like New York, which currently sees about two days per year that surpass the heat threshold, that could mean 50 deadly days per year by 2100.

The researchers analyzed more than 1,900 cases of fatalities associated with heat waves in 164 cities across 36 countries between 1980 and 2014 to define a global threshold for life-threatening conditions based on heat and humidity. Researchers found the overall risk for heat-related sickness or death has increased steadily since 1980.

The study notes well-documented heat waves, including a five-day stretch that claimed hundreds of lives in Chicago in 1995, the European heat wave in 2003 that saw tens of thousands of heat-related deaths and lethal temperatures in Moscow in 2010 that killed more than 10,000. Across Russia, the heat wave in 2010 claimed more than 50,000 lives. But the research team found that heatwaves are more common than most people think, and humidity levels combined with heat play a major role in heat-related heath risks.

By 2100, Deadly Heat May Threaten Majority of Humankind
Up to 75 percent of people could face deadly heatwaves by 2100 unless carbon emissions plummet, a new study warns.

A new study has found that 30 percent of the world’s population is currently exposed to potentially deadly heat for 20 days per year or more - and like a growing forest fire, climate change is spreading this extreme heat.

Without major reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2, up to three in four people will face the threat of dying from heat by 2100. However, even with reductions, one in two people at the end of the century will likely face at least 20 days when extreme heat can kill, according to the analysis, published on Monday in Nature Climate Change.

"Lethal heatwaves are very common. I don’t know why we as a society are not more concerned about the dangers," says Camilo Mora of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the study’s lead author. "The 2003 European heatwave killed approximately 70,000 people - that’s more than 20 times the number of people who died in the September 11 attacks."

Dangerous heatwaves are far more common than anyone realized, killing people in more than 60 different parts of the world every year. Notable deadly heatwaves include the 2010 Moscow event that killed at least 10,000 people and the 1995 Chicago heatwave, where 700 people died of heat-related causes.

Heatwaves have also claimed victims more recently. In the last two weeks, dozens have died in India and Pakistan’s current heatwave, with temperatures spiking to a record 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53.5 degrees Celsius). And there have been heat-related deaths already in the U.S. this summer.

Mora and an international group of researchers and students examined more than 30,000 relevant publications to find data on 1,949 case studies of cities or regions where human deaths were associated with high temperatures. Lethal heatwaves have been documented in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, London, Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney, and São Paulo.

Heat kills ten times more people in the U.S. than tornados or other extreme weather events, says Richard Keller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of medical history.

Heatwave scorches Europe, from London to Siberia
Europe sizzled under a continent-wide heatwave on Wednesday, with London bracing for Britain's hottest June day since 1976 as Portugal struggled to stamp out deadly forest fires.

More than 1,000 firefighters were still battling to control the flames that broke out in central Portugal at the weekend, killing at least 64 people.

Two forest fires have also broken out since Sunday on Croatia's southern Adriatic coast, prompting the authorities to evacuate 800 tourists, although the blazes have now been brought under control.

As the northern hemisphere marked the summer solstice -- the longest day of the year -- the mercury hovered around 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) across oven-like swathes of Europe, including Italy, Austria, the Netherlands and even alpine Switzerland.

In Italy, forecasters say the current heatwave could turn out to be the most intense in 15 years, with temperatures around eight degrees above the seasonal average -- 39 degrees Celsius in Milan and up to 30 in the Alps at an altitude of 1,000 metres (3,300 feet).

A study released Monday warned that deadly heatwaves will become more and more common around the world even if the rise in temperatures is capped at 2.0 degrees C as targeted by the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.

Britain was set to see its first five-day stretch of temperatures over 30 degrees C in June since 1995. The thermometer was forecast to hit 34 C in west London -- a record for the month since 1976.

In Guildford, southwest of the capital, a road surface melted on Tuesday, with motorists likening it to a a bar of chocolate left out in the hot sun.

Music lovers in France were also braving the heat, as the annual Fete de la Musique -- a nationwide celebration with thousands of free street performances -- kicked off under an official heatwave declared across swathes of the country. On Tuesday, the body of a 31-year-old man was pulled out of the Loire river after he got dragged down by the current while trying to cool down.

In Russia, Siberia was also suffering a heatwave, with temperatures of up to 37 C in the city of Krasnoyarsk, Channel One television reported.

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Photo courtesy Harish Tyagi / EPA and Inside Climate News