Report from the UN and the Red Cross
Extreme heat waves will soon make entire regions uninhabitable
A worker quenches his thirst during a heatwave in New Delhi, India, in May 2022
© Manish Swarup/AP/DPA
A recent report by the UN and the Red Cross outlines a growing danger from heat waves if climate change continues as before. “Great suffering and loss of life” would be the consequences.
According to a report by the United Nations and the Red Cross, extreme heat waves will make entire regions of the world uninhabitable in just a few decades.
If climate change continues as before, heat waves in areas such as the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and South and Southwest Asia would exceed the “physical and social limits” of humans, the UN and the Red Cross warned on Monday at the presentation of a joint report in Geneva. “Great suffering and loss of life” would be the consequences.
Report: Thousands already dead from heat waves
According to the report, heat waves are the highest meteorological hazard in all regions for which reliable statistics are available. Thousands of people are already becoming victims of heat waves every year.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths and Secretary General of the International Committee of the Red Cross said the number of fatalities will increase year by year as climate change progresses and Red Crescent (ICRC), Jagan Cahpagain.
Experts predict that the number of deaths from extreme heat will be as high as that of cancer deaths worldwide by the end of the century. The report was published just under a month before the UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.