By the end of this century, extremely dangerous heat stress will become commonplace for billions of people living in different parts of the globe.
According to the Phys.Org portal, researchers from Harvard and Washington Universities came to this conclusion.
By 2100, there will be many places on Earth where being outdoors will be dangerous to health and life. As the lead author of the study, Lucas Vargas Zeppetello said, deadly heat will become commonplace in Europe and North America, and residents of countries closer to the equator will not be able to be outdoors for any long time during the six warmest months of the year.
Such a warming scenario is highly likely to become a reality even if humanity begins to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In the new study, scientists analyzed the combination of air temperature and humidity – the so-called heat index, created to assess the effect of heat on the human body.
The index of “dangerous” heat, according to the US National Weather Service, is 39.4 ° C (102.92°f), and the “extremely dangerous” indicator is 51 ° C (123.8 °f).
Scientists have concluded that even if the goals of the Paris Agreement are met, by 2100 dangerous heat will be recorded in Western Europe, Japan, China and the United States 3-10 times more often than today.
In the tropics, the number of record hot days will double, that is, dangerous heat will continue there for half the months of the year.
