According to a report by the UN and the Red Cross, the limits beyond which people exposed to extreme heat cannot survive could be reached in “regions such as the Sahel, South Asia and Asia of the Southwest”.
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Their findings are alarming. Entire regions of the globe will become unlivable in the coming decades due to more frequent and intense heat waves under the effect of climate change, warned the UN and the Red Cross on Monday (October 10th).
Less than a month before COP27, which is to take place in November in Egypt, the UN and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) call in a joint report to prepare for the upcoming heat waves to avoid large numbers of deaths.
These organizations point out that there are limits beyond which people exposed to extreme heat and humidity cannot survive and that there are also limits beyond which societies can no longer adapt. And to quote “regions such as the Sahel, South Asia and Southwest Asia”.
The deadliest climate hazard
Such a situation will result in “large-scale suffering and loss of life, population movements and worsening inequalities”, warn the two organizations. According to the report, almost everywhere reliable statistics are available, heat waves are the deadliest weather hazard.
They already kill thousands of people each year and will become increasingly deadly as climate change increases. According to the report, experts predict very high death rates from extreme heat, “comparable in magnitude, by the end of the century, to all cancers”.