heat-related deaths by mid-century, according to The Lancet's new global projections.
According to its report, in 2022, individuals were, on average, exposed to 86 days of health-threatening high temperatures, of which 60% were made at least twice as likely to occur because of human-caused climate change.
The researchers have blamed the «negligence» of governments, companies, and banks who continue investing in oil and gas for the crisis.
«Our health stocktake reveals that the growing hazards of climate change are costing lives and livelihoods worldwide today.
Projections of a 2°C hotter world reveal a dangerous future, and are a grim reminder that the pace and scale of mitigation efforts seen so far have been woefully inadequate to safeguard people's health and safety,» said Marina Romanello, executive director of Lancet Countdown at University College London.«With 1,337 tonnes of carbon dioxide still emitted every second, we aren't reducing emissions anywhere near fast enough to keep climate hazards within the levels that our health systems can cope with. There is an enormous human cost to inaction, and we can't afford this level of disengagement — we are paying in lives.
Every moment we delay makes the path to a liveable future more difficult and adaptation increasingly costly and challenging,» she added.
The Lancet report represents the work of 114 leading experts from 52 research institutions and UN agencies around the world including the World Health Organisation and the World Meteorological Organisation, providing an up-to-date assessment of links between health and climate change.
Published ahead of CO climate conference in Dubai, the report presents 47 indicators that include several new and improved