How climate change puts 2.2 billion people at risk in India, Pakistan

Billions of people may be pushed over the crucial tolerance limits if global temperatures continue to rise as a result of climate change.

According to a new study, severe global warming brought on by climate change could, by the turn of the century, cause heart attacks and heat strokes in populated nations like India, China, and Pakistan.

The interdisciplinary study also stated that the impact of warming temperatures above 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels on human health will be devastating.

Let’s take a closer look.

Most populated countries would bear the brunt of the heatwave

Models predicting temperature increases ranging from 1.5 degrees Celsius to four degrees Celsius were used by the research team to evaluate the potential effects of climate change. The latter illustrates a worst-case scenario in which warming quickens, allowing them to pinpoint areas of the globe where rising temperatures will cause heat and humidity levels to exceed the upper limit of what humans can tolerate.

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The study predicts that if global temperatures rise by two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, at least 2.2 billion people in Pakistan and India's Indus River Valley, one billion in eastern China, and about 800 million people in sub-Saharan Africa will endure hours of heat that is too intense for human tolerance.

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Penn State College of Health and Human Development, Purdue University College of Sciences, and Purdue Institute for a Sustainable Future.

New Delhi and Kolkata in India would experience the worst of this annual heat.

PTI

Cities around the world, including Multan and Shanghai, will also suffer extremely hot weather.

Wion News quoted Matthew Huber, professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University, as saying, “The worst heat stress will occur in regions that are not wealthy and that are expected to experience rapid population growth in the coming decades.”

“This is true despite the fact that these nations generate far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than wealthy nations. As a result, billions of poor people will suffer, and many could die,” he added.

Other countries, too, might suffer

The Eastern Seaboard and the central part of the United States, from Florida to New York and from Houston to Chicago, might be affected by the elevated levels if global warming keeps increasing by three degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Australia will also endure extremely high temperatures.

The researchers expected that the US would experience more heatwaves than other parts of the world, but that these heatwaves would not frequently exceed human tolerance levels.

“Wealthy nations will suffer from this heat as well, and in this interconnected world, everyone can expect to be negatively affected in some way,” Huber added.

Rising global temperatures

Given the study's historical backdrop, it is clear that the world's temperatures have increased by about one degree Celsius since the start of the industrial revolution when people started burning fossil fuels in factories and machines.

In response to this catastrophe, 196 countries joined forces to sign the Paris Agreement in 2015. This agreement intends to limit global temperature increases and keep them within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The researchers found that throughout the Middle East and Southeast Asia, temperatures and humidity that are above what is considered to be normal for humans have only sometimes been observed, and only for brief periods of time.

Larry Kenney, professor at Penn State and co-author of the new study said, "To understand how complex, real-world problems like climate change will affect human health, you need expertise both about the planet and the human body."

Researchers from Penn State found that the safe ambient wet-bulb temperature for young, healthy people is around 31 C.

However, in addition to temperature and humidity, each individual's unique threshold relies on their degree of activity as well as other environmental elements including wind speed and solar radiation.

According to researchers, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, is necessary to stop global temperatures from rising. The poor and underprivileged world will suffer the most, they said, if the improvements are not done.

With inputs from agencies