A study released Tuesday by the journal PLOS Medicine found that in some regions, more people will die due to heatwaves by 2080, given policymakers around the world do not make significant policy changes regarding health and climate.
The heatwave death increase would be more drastic in tropical and subtropical areas, and would also affect places like Australia, Europe, and the United States. Using mathematical modeling, the study found, for example, that Australia and the U.S. could experience five times more excess deaths from heatwaves between 2031 and 2080, according to Reuters.
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The study specifically suggests that policymakers seek to reduce greenhouse gases; lower emissions correlate with less death due to heatwaves.
Researchers clarified that they had to base their findings on relatively simple assumptions of what different countries would do, so the findings “should therefore be interpreted as potential impacts under hypothetical scenarios, and not as projections of (the) future,” according to a statement.
