There has been a 68 percent increase in heat wave-related deaths over a roughly 20-year period since 2000, with climate change also contributing to serious food shortages in many countries, a study by an international team of researchers has shown.
Calling for an urgent shift to renewable energy, the international team of researchers criticized governments and corporations around the world for prioritizing the use of fossil fuels over human health.
The study, published in British medical journal The Lancet on Oct. 25, came ahead of the COP 27 U.N. climate conference, slated to be held in Egypt from Sunday to Nov. 18.
The team analyzed the global impact of rising temperatures on public health and the economy, finding that heat-related deaths increased 68 percent between 2017-2021, compared with the same duration of time from 2000-2004.
Higher global temperatures are also becoming a greater threat to crop yields. The number of people suffering from food shortages increased by an estimated 98 million across 103 countries in 2020, compared to the average for the period between 1981 and 2010, according to the study.
Warmer temperatures are also creating environmental conditions more conducive to the spread of infectious diseases. The transmission risk of dengue fever, for example, has increased by 12 percent over a 10-year period through 2021 as compared to 1951 through 1960.
The study further claimed that "the coexistence of dengue outbreaks with the COVID-19 pandemic led to aggravated pressure on health systems, misdiagnosis, and difficulties in management of both diseases in many regions of South America, Asia, and Africa."
The researchers also demonstrated that exposure to PM 2.5 air particle pollution contributed to 3.3 million deaths in 2020, of which 1.2 million were directly related to the combustion of fossil fuels.
