Researchers are studying how deadly climate change is

From year to year we experience more and more the effects of climate change. Floods are increasing, heat waves are becoming part of everyday life and the impact on people is also becoming clear. A new study has now examined how many deaths can already be attributed to climate change.

The data is based on almost 30 million reported deaths and their causes. 43 countries were examined in the period from 1991 to 2018, based on calculations it was assumed how many people would actually have perished if the world had not changed. The difference is the number of climatic deaths.

The effects are already enormous, with an average of around 100,000 more people dying each year. Heat waves in particular are troubling us; in warm countries such as Thailand, Peru and the Philippines, a particularly large number of people die because of the temperatures.

Almost 37 percent of deaths would not have happened without climate change. Nevertheless, this number is still estimated to be relatively positive, as data are missing despite the many millions of cases examined. Because only a few data are reported from countries in Africa, for example. The number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher here.

Another finding can also be derived from research. For example, heat-related deaths are unlikely to increase as rapidly in rich countries as elsewhere. The reason is that more and more buildings are air-conditioned, so people can protect themselves on hot days. Poor countries tend to have these resources less often.

Own opinion:

The results presented here again show that poor countries in particular are most affected by climate change. Injustice therefore continues to grow, while rich countries emit particularly high levels of emissions, poor regions have to live with the consequences. Another problem that we urgently need to address is that we all need to take more responsibility for our pollution.

Via Grist