Time - Twelve of the 20 indicators for the health risks and impacts of climate change in the report set concerning new records—showing that the health impacts caused by our changing climate have reached unprecedented levels that cannot be ignored. The indicators studied include extreme heat, weather events, food security, and pollution.
Weather events, like extreme heat and wildfires, are becoming more common due to climate change and are having a deadly impact on the lives of thousands. The number of heat-related deaths have surged 23% since the 1990s, now reaching 546,000 a year, according to the report. In 2024, the hottest year on record, the average person was exposed to a record 16 additional health-threatening hot days, the report found. Air pollution from wildfire smoke was also linked to a record 154,000 deaths last year.
Delays in the adoption of clean energy are also taking a toll on our health. Each year, 2.5 million deaths are attributable to the air pollution that comes from continued burning of fossil fuels. Many of these deaths could be prevented by the transition to clean energy—air pollution resulting from the household use of dirty fuels and technologies across 65 countries resulted in 2.3 million deaths in 2022, according to the report. Energy related emissions have reached new highs, the report says, with the world’s largest fossil fuel giants having increased their projected production to a scale three times greater than a liveable planet can support.
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