A new study suggests that nearly one-third of the global population suffers deadly levels of heat for at least 20 days during the year. By 2100, this number could climb above 70 percent with tropical regions being the most affected.
This study, published in the journal Natural Climate Change, focuses specifically on heat and humidity conditions known to increase the risk of human mortality.
“The way in which the body cools down is by sweating — the evaporation of that sweat cools you down. But when it’s humid, that sweat doesn’t evaporate, so the heat that the body generates, instead of going away, it stays in your body.” said the study’s lead author Camilo Mora.
Through investigating past cases of extreme heat and excess mortality, the researchers determined that about 13 percent of all the world’s land area — home to about 30 percent of the total human population — had faced these deadly conditions for 20 or more days during the year 2000. And this number is only expected to grow.
However, Mora also suggests that the number deaths caused by heat waves may be decreasing, due to better adaptation efforts such as air conditioning.
Read more here.
Source: The Washington Post, 20 June 2017