More talk about heatwaves is growing, no matter where in the world you might live — it could be India, Greenland, San Francisco, California or Toronto, Canada. The Earth has been breaking extreme heat records for several consecutive years lately.
In the western United States last week, temperatures soared above 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius), smashing dozens of historical heat records from Oregon to Arizona. By Monday this week in Bihar, India, 76 people in total had died of heat-related conditions as temperatures in the region hovered around 113 degrees Fahrenheit.
According to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on Monday, this scorching trend will continue for most of the globe every single year as long as no action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reports Live Science.
Right now, India is experiencing one of the worst heatwaves in its history, with the mercury pushing 48 degrees in New Delhi and 50 degrees in parts of Rajasthan. climatecouncil) June 17, 2019
A team of Australian meteorologists analyzed the predictions in 22 separate climate reports to calculate exactly how hot these summer temperatures would be. They determined that by the end of the 21st century, with a “business as usual” scenario, monthly high-temperature records will be set for 58 percent of the world’s countries.
This includes 67 percent of the poorest nations and 68 percent of small island developing states – every single year until 2100. Nearly 10 percent of the world will also have at least one monthly temperature record “smashed” by more than 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1.0 degrees Celsius) every year, according to the research paper.
Doing nothing about the climate crisis is foolish
Heat can kill. We all know that. From heat stroke and dehydration to breathing issues, heart attacks, and asthma attacks, the list goes on. And for the very young and the elderly, the health risks rise even more.
High temperatures can also make air pollution worse, make water scarce and cause crops to fail, leading to malnutrition and starvation. A 2014 World Health Organization study predicted 250,000 more people will die annually between 2030 and 2050 due to climate change. Later studies suggest the 2014 prediction is a “conservative estimate.”
Perhaps one of the results of extreme temperatures that most people don’t think about is the economic effects on individuals, communities and whole countries. On Sunday, officials in Bihar, India asked the city’s population of 100 million people to stay indoors on Monday, fearing there would be more deaths.
And extreme heat is as destructive as extreme flooding caused by relentless rainfall, as we have seen in the U.S. Midwest this year. The Mississippi River, a major artery for the shipment of goods is impassable because of the high waters. So the economic health of a country is dependent on the climate, and in the climate crisis we are experiencing today, we really need to take it seriously.
Accelerating climate change is exacerbating drought conditions globally. India is in the grip of a severe heatwave, but even more worrying is the low groundwater levels. “We’ve had dry years before but the groundwater was our saviour.” BBCNews climatecouncil) June 19, 2019
