American climatologists from George Mason University in Virginia have identified regions of the world that may become dangerous or even uninhabitable for humans in the future due to global warming. To work published In the scientific journal PNAS.
According to scientists, extreme heat has affected every continent in the last few years. Temperatures above 50°C have been regularly recorded on the Asian subcontinent, and in London the mercury exceeded 40°C for the first time in 2022, much earlier than climate models had predicted.
According to current calculations, a temperature of 31.1 °C is considered the limit that a person can tolerate without external cooling and without serious harm to health.
If average global temperatures continue to rise, the Indus Valley of India and Pakistan, as well as parts of East Asia, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, could face physiologically intolerable conditions.
For example, with 2 °C of warming compared to pre-industrial levels, the Yemeni city of Hodeidah, with a population of more than 700 thousand people, would experience up to 340 hours (14 days) of unbearable heat per year, putting lives in danger. of the population at risk.
Other densely populated hotspots include the cities of Dammam and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia (37 and eight days of heat respectively), Bandar Abbas and Ahvaz in Iran (29 and three days), Lahore (24 days) and Dubai in Pakistan (20 days ) is included. in UAE, Delhi and Kolkata (six and five days), India.
Extreme heat is life-threatening not only due to heat stroke, but also due to complications of cardiovascular, respiratory, kidney and other diseases.
Researchers stated that the study results show that humanity now needs to prepare, adapt and mitigate extreme heat.
Previous scientists determined “Hot spots” of the greatest warming of the world’s oceans.