World not ready for significant rise in extreme heat, scientists say

NEARLY 3.8 billion people could face extreme heat by 2050 and while tropical countries will bear the brunt, cooler regions will also need to adapt, scientists said this week.

- AFP

Demand for cooling will “drastically” increase in large countries like Brazil, Indonesia = Nigeria, where hundreds of millions of people lack air conditioning or other means of beating the heat.

But even a moderate increase in hotter days could have a “severe impact” in nations not used to such conditions like Canada, Russia and Finland, said scientists from the University of Oxford.

In a new study, they looked at different global warming scenarios to project how often people in the future might experience temperatures considered uncomfortably hot or cold.

They found “that the population experiencing extreme heat conditions is projected to nearly double” by 2050 if global average temperatures rise 2°C above preindustrial times.

But most of the impact would be felt this decade as the world fast approaches the 1.2°C mark, the study's lead author Jesus Lizana, told AFP.

“The key takeaway from this is that the need for adaptation to extreme heat is more urgent than previously known,’ said Lizana, an environmental scientist.