A new report prepared by a group of health experts has warned that climate change caused by fossil fuel emissions is raising temperatures to dangerously new levels and exacerbating drought and food security problems.
The 8th annual indicator report of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change stated that in 2023, people were exposed to, on average, an unprecedented 50 more days of health-threatening temperatures than expected without climate change.
The Lancet Countdown annual indicator report, developed in close collaboration with the World Health Organisation, represents the work of 122 leading experts from 57 academic institutions and UN agencies globally, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
According to the report, the year 2023 was the hottest on record, with persistent droughts, deadly heat waves, and devastating forest fires, storms and floods, and disastrous impacts on the health, lives and livelihoods of people worldwide.
Heat-re
lated deaths continue to rapidly increase, and are expected to exceed cold-related deaths in a high-warming scenario. Globally, in 2023, heat-related deaths in those over age 65 increased by a record-breaking 167% above deaths in the 1990s, substantially above the 65% increase that would have been expected had temperatures not changed.
Dr. Marina Romanello, Executive Director of the Lancet Countdown at University College London, warned, “This year’s stocktake of the imminent health threats of climate inaction reveals the most concerning findings yet in our eight years of monitoring.”
“Once again, last year broke climate change records-with extreme heat waves, deadly weather events, and devastating wildfires affecting people around the world. No individual or economy on the planet is immune from the health threats of climate change. The relentless expansion of fossil fuels and record-breaking greenhouse gas emissions compounds these dangerous health impacts, and is threatening to reverse the limited progress
made so far, and put a healthy future further out of reach.”
Extreme drought affected 48% of the global land area-the second-highest level recorded-and the higher frequency of heat waves and droughts was associated with 151 million more people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity than annually between 1981 and 2010.
During the last decade (2014-2023), 61% of the global land area saw an increase in extreme precipitation events compared to the 1961-1990 average, increasing the risk of flooding, infectious disease, and water contamination.
In parallel, more frequent heat waves and droughts were responsible for 151 million more people experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity in 124 countries in 2022 than annually between 1981 and 2010. The climatic suitability for the spread of deadly mosquito-borne infectious diseases has also increased.
Source: Emirates News Agency