Interactive Map Forecasts Deadly Heat Waves Due to Climate Change
- Leah Rosenbaum
- Jun 24, 2017
- 1 min read
New research from the University of Hawaii shows that the number of deadly heat waves is only going to increase. The study, published today in Nature Climate Change, found that unless current rates of greenhouse gas emissions are lowered, the majority of the world’s population will experience temperatures extreme enough to be fatal by the end of this century.
“Thirty percent of the world’s human population is exposed to these deadly conditions at least 20 days in a year,” said lead researcher Camilo Mora, associate professor of Geography in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, in a statement. “If we don’t do anything, it’s going to be close to seventy percent.”
Hyperthermia, the scientific term for high body temperature, can occur both indoors and outdoors. Heat stroke, the most extreme and deadly form of hyperthermia, occurs when body temperature rises above 103 degrees Fahrenheit. And it’s not just heat that is dangerous. High levels of humidity can be fatal as well, because it interferes with the evaporation of sweat. The higher the humidity, the lower the temperature needs to be in order to cause heat stroke.
CIFOR