An international research team has warned that climate change is exposing people around the world to serious health threats.
The 120 or so researchers from Britain and other countries published a report of their findings on climate and health in the British medical journal, The Lancet, on Wednesday.
The report says that in 2023, the hottest year on record, there were 167 percent more annual heat-related deaths of adults older than 65 years than such deaths in the 1990s.
It says the risk of infection with Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease, has increased by 46 percent over the past decade through 2023, compared to the decade through 1960.
Last year, over 80 regions and countries reported a record high of more than five million cases of Dengue fever infections.
The researchers also say climate change is threatening people’s lives and health due to heat waves and droughts that cause serious food shortages.
The team says CO2 emissions from the use of fossil fuels reached an all-time high last year, due to government subsidies and corporate investments. The researchers urge such funds should be allocated toward measures to tackle global warming and efforts to protect people’s lives.