What Else Is Heading Our Way? Heat Deaths - Among Those Over 65, Up More Than 50% In 20 Years
Heat-related deaths are surging around the world, particularly among older people, scientists said on Thursday, warning of growing pressure on health systems hit hard by COVID-19. Extreme heat led to the deaths of almost 300,000 people over 65 years old in 2018 - a 54% rise in two decades, said a report on the links between health and climate in The Lancet medical journal.
Higher temperatures are also making it impossible for people to work outdoors in sweltering conditions in places like India and Indonesia, with 302 billion work hours lost globally in 2019, up from 199 billion in 2000, it said. “Climate-induced shocks are claiming lives, damaging health and disrupting livelihoods in all parts of the world right now,” said Ian Hamilton, executive director of the fifth annual report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change.
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The pandemic has thrown a spotlight on the ability of health systems to cope with the sorts of health shocks climate change could cause in future, said Hugh Montgomery, Lancet Countdown co-chairman and a professor of intensive care medicine at University College London.
“A nation’s wealth offers no protection against the health impacts of even a 1.2C global average temperature rise,” he said in a statement, referring to the level of warming that has already happened since preindustrial times.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/climate-change-health/update-1-feeling-the-heat-scientists-warn-of-climate-shocks-to-global-health-idUSL8N2IJ2YV
