Forest clearing in South-east Asia causes more heat-related deaths than other tropical places

More people in Southeast Asia are dying from heat worsened by deforestation than in the Congo or Amazon rainforests, despite losing a smaller total area of forest than in the Americas, a recent study led by a British university has found.

- Shabana Begum Correspondent

Every year in Southeast Asia, around 15,680 rural residents die of heat-related complications worsened by deforestation, compared with 9,890 for the tropical regions of Africa and 2,520 for the Americas.

Between 2001 and 2020, Southeast Asia lost about 490,000 sq km of vegetation, while tropical Central and South America lost about 760,000 sq km of forest.

“Southeast Asia has lost a smaller total area of tropical forest, but has higher population density... leading to higher heat-related mortality,” said Dr Carly Reddington from the University of Leeds, who is the lead author of the study.

She added that Latin America has seen the greatest forest loss, but the death toll is lower because fewer people live in the deforested areas.

The study, published in scientific journal Nature Climate Change in late August, found that over 20 years, climate change and deforestation increased Southeast Asia’s temperature by 0.72 deg C.

Forests not only sustain life and absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide, but also have a cooling effect on people.

While the canopies provide shade, the leaves release water vapour into the air and remove some heat, much like humans sweating to cool their bodies.