Today, we often talk about global warming, climate change and the effects it¡¯ll have for life in the icy regions of our planet.?
However, a new study highlights that if such climate change damage continues, the death toll that it¡¯ll cause will be more than the current death rate of all infectious diseases combined.?
This is according to a study from Climate Impact Lab, that was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. We often hear about heat waves that trouble various parts of our planet and even claim many lives. But their impact isn¡¯t highlighted like the devastation caused by floods or cyclones. This study gives us a reality check of the kind of damage it is capable of causing.
Researchers looked at 399 million death records from 41 countries -- this is 55 percent of the global population. They discovered that a very small portion of people die due to direct impacts of a heatwave or extreme heat. A larger impact, however, is caused due to indirect results like heart attacks for people having cardiovascular problems.
According to Amir Jina, environmental and development economist at the University of Chicago and co-author of the study, in a conversation with Earther, our body starts pumping more blood in order to cool our body from the heatwave, putting immense stress on our system. This affects people with cardiovascular problems, causing indirect deaths.
He claims that if authorities don¡¯t stop the greenhouse gas emissions, it can result in the death of 73 people per 100,000 by the year 2100 -- this is similar to the death rate caused by all infectious diseases including HIV, malaria and yellow fever, combined.?
Researchers claim that this impact will be spread disproportionately. While it is the rich who are mostly causing this damage, they have the infrastructure to keep themselves cool with proper air conditioning and access to healthcare. The poor however don¡¯t, hence they¡¯ll be hit the hardest.?
Moreover, people over the age of 65 years will have more underlying conditions that can get worse with extreme heat, and will suffer the most. The heatwave will also affect the global economy with heat-related deaths consuming 3.2 percent of the world's global economic output by the beginning of 2100. In fact, each ton of CO2 the world exudes will cost $36.60 in damage.