Jul 10, 2021 20:00:00

Research results show that one in three people killed by heat stroke died due to 'global warming'

It is known that the rise in temperature caused by climate change

has various effects on the human body, and heat stroke is a serious symptom with a risk of death. A study examining the relationship between heat stroke deaths and climate change worldwide found that 37% of heat stroke deaths between 1991 and 2018 were 'caused by the rise in temperature caused by global warming.' The possibility was shown.

The burden of heat-related mortality responsible to recent human-induced climate change | Nature Climate Change
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01058-x

Global warming already responsible for one in three heat-related deaths | LSHTM
https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2021/global-warming-already-responsible-one-three-heat-related-deaths

Various studies have been conducted on the effects of climate change on human health, but no large-scale studies have been conducted to specifically investigate the relationship between heat stroke and climate change. .. Therefore, a research team led by Professor Antonio Gasparini of the Graduate School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, University of London, used data obtained from 732 points in 43 countries including Japan, and generated between 1991 and 2018. We conducted a study to calculate the number of deaths caused by the additional temperature rise caused by artificial warming.

In this study, we first acquired meteorological data and cause of death data at 732 points, and quantified the relationship between temperature and mortality at each point. Next, we simulated and compared the mortality rates with and without artificial climate change, and calculated the number of deaths from naturally occurring heat stroke and the number of deaths from heat stroke caused by the effects of global warming. did.

As a result, it was found that 37% of the deaths from heat stroke in 43 countries around the world may have been caused by the rise in temperature due to global warming. The percentage of 'heat stroke deaths due to global warming' was highest in Latin America, with a maximum of 76% in Ecuador and Colombia. In Southeast Asia, it is estimated that half of the deaths from heat stroke were due to global warming, at 48% to 61%.

The study also calculated the number of deaths by city, with an additional 136 deaths from global warming in Santiago, the capital of Chile, of which 44.3% of the deaths from heat stroke in the city are warming. It was due to. Similarly, 156 (35.6%) in Tokyo, 189 (26.1%) in Athens, Greece, 172 (32%) in Rome, Italy, 177 (31.9%) in Madrid, Spain, and 146 in Bangkok, Thailand. People (53.4%), 82 (33.6%) in London, England, 141 (44.2%) in New York, USA, and 137 (48.5%) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, died from heat stroke due to climate change. Is being considered.

'The results of this study clearly show that, far from the catastrophic consequences of climate change in the future, people around the world are already facing the dire consequences of anthropogenic climate change,' said Professor Gasparini. We must take immediate action. '