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Heat Deaths Skyrocket: Global Health Emergency Declared
28 Oct
Summary
- Record 710,000 heat-related deaths occurred in 2023.
- Three million heat-related deaths occurred between 2016 and 2023.
- Climate change has cost the global economy over $1 trillion annually.
A new report in The Lancet calls for declaring climate change a global health emergency, citing a record 710,000 heat-related deaths in 2023. The report highlights three million heat-related deaths globally between 2016 and 2023, with over 70% linked to human-caused warming.
Researchers emphasize the need for an integrated, long-term response to build resilience. Climate change's impact includes extreme heat and drought, affecting over half the world's land surface last year. This warming trend has cost the global economy over $1 trillion annually in lost productivity.
While some nations have improved health and early-warning systems, and clean energy investment has doubled, fossil fuels still dominate energy production. Air pollution from these sources causes millions of deaths annually. However, reduced fossil fuel pollution has avoided hundreds of thousands of deaths in many countries.
Despite increased funding for climate health research, it predominantly benefits wealthy nations. Geopolitical instability has shifted focus away from climate change, exacerbating the crisis. Researchers noted challenges due to missing data, particularly from the United States.
