All articles tagged with #adaptation strategies
The WHO and WMO warn that increasing extreme heat due to climate change poses serious health and productivity risks for workers, urging governments, employers, and communities to implement adaptation measures such as adjusting work hours, improving building infrastructure, and protecting vulnerable populations, despite the financial challenges involved.
Recent research shows that nearly half of the world's population experienced an extra month of extreme heat last year due to human-induced climate change, with significant regional and health impacts, and ongoing efforts to develop adaptation strategies to mitigate future risks.
A study published in Nature Medicine reveals that over 61,000 people died due to extreme summer heat waves in Europe in 2022, indicating that adaptation strategies to cope with higher temperatures are not keeping pace with global warming. The research suggests that efforts made over the past two decades to adapt to a hotter world have failed to prevent mass casualties. The study also warns that this summer is expected to be even worse, with the Earth entering a natural El Niño weather pattern, exacerbating the heat in many parts of the world. The majority of heat-related deaths occurred in Mediterranean countries, particularly among older women and younger men. As climate change continues, the study predicts an increase in deaths from extreme heat.
A new study published in the Nature Sustainability journal warns that countries across the Gulf region and the wider Middle East are highly vulnerable to extreme heat borne out of climate change, with poorer populations being particularly at risk in the decades ahead. The study evaluates the exposure in two scenarios by 2070, namely if global temperatures rise by 1.5C (2.7F) or by 2.7C (4.9F). The Middle East is an already hot region that is expected to face widespread extreme heat in the future, posing habitability challenges of coping physiologically with extreme heat, producing food, sourcing water, and working outside.