Last update 13:43
Global warming will lead to more deaths than all infectious diseases combined. That appears from research from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
If greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed, an additional 73 in 100,000 people will die each year at the end of this century as a result of the higher temperatures. That’s comparable to how many people now die from deadly infectious diseases, such as HIV / AIDS and malaria, writes The Guardian.
The researchers scanned all kinds of statistics to find connections between temperatures and mortality. For example, the risk of a heart attack increases during a heat wave. “Many elderly people die as a result of the heat,” Amir Jina, an environmental economist at the University of Chicago, told The Guardian.
According to him, a heat wave can be compared to Covid-19. People with underlying suffering are more vulnerable. “If you have a heart problem and have to sigh under the heat for days, you will be pushed to the edge of the abyss.”
Global warming will have major consequences, especially in poor countries. In countries such as Ghana, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sudan, an additional 200 in 100,000 people will die by the end of this century, the researchers expect. In Norway and Canada, on the other hand, fewer people will die as a result of weather conditions: they will benefit from the fact that there will be less freezing there.
Last year died in the Netherlands 400 more people during the heat wave in July. Heat waves also increase the chance of premature births, according to Belgian research.
cc-photo: Orna Wachman
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