Heat waves will render entire regions uninhabitable within decades

Snow is gradually disappearing in Churchill, northern Canada, due to global warming.

AFP

Yesterday, the United Nations and the Red Cross warned that entire regions will become uninhabitable in the coming decades, due to heat waves that are increasing in frequency and intensity.

The two organizations noted in a report that, given the current climate development, “heat waves may reach or even exceed physiological and social limits” for humans in the coming decades, and “cause widespread suffering and loss of life,” especially in the Sahel region, the Horn of Africa, South Asia and Southwest Asia.

This year's heat wave disasters in countries such as Somalia and Pakistan herald a future of more deadly, frequent and severe humanitarian emergencies, according to the report.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies published the report before the COP27 Climate Conference in Egypt.

In the report, the two sides called for strict steps to be taken immediately to avoid possible recurrent heat wave disasters, and mentioned steps that could mitigate the worst effects of the extreme heat.

"There are clear limits beyond which people exposed to extreme heat and humidity cannot survive," the report said, adding, "It is also possible that there will be levels of extreme heat beyond which it is practically impossible for societies to adapt."

He warned that the combined effects of aging, climate warming and urbanization could lead to a significant increase in the number of people at risk in developing countries in the coming decades.

"Projected future death rates from extreme heat are shockingly high - in proportion to deaths from all cancers and all infectious diseases by the end of the century - and shockingly unequal," the report continued.

The report pointed out that agricultural workers, children, the elderly, pregnant and lactating women are more vulnerable to disease and death.

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