If global temperatures increase by 1° Celsius (C) or more than current levels, each year billions of people will be exposed to heat and humidity so extreme they will be unable to naturally cool themselves, according to interdisciplinary research from the Penn State College of Health and Human Development, Purdue University College of Sciences and Purdue Institute for a Sustainable Future.
Results from a new article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicated that warming of the planet beyond 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels will be increasingly devastating for human health across the planet.
Humans can only withstand certain combinations of heat and humidity before their bodies begin to experience heat-related health problems, such as heat stroke or heart attack. As climate change pushes temperatures higher around the world, billions of people could be pushed beyond these limits.
Since the start of the industrial revolution, when humans began to burn fossil fuels in machines and factories, temperatures around the world have increased by about 1°C, or 1.8° Fahrenheit (F). In 2015, 196 nations signed the Paris Agreement which aims to limit worldwide temperature increases to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
The researcher team modeled global temperature increases ranging between 1.5°C and 4°C—considered the worst-case scenario where warming would begin to accelerate—to identify areas of the planet where warming would lead to heat and humidity levels that exceed human limits.
2023-10-09 16:24:02
Link from phys.org