According to scientists, extreme heat has affected every continent over the past few years. Temperatures above 50 degrees have been regularly recorded across the Asian subcontinent, with London breaking 40 degrees for the first time in 2022, much earlier than climate models had predicted.
According to existing calculations, a temperature of 31.1 degrees is considered the limit that a person can tolerate without external cooling and significant 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 experience physiologically intolerable conditions.
For example, with warming of 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, the Yemeni city of Hodeidah, with a population of more than 700 thousand people, will experience up to 340 hours (14 days) of unbearable heat annually, putting the lives of the population at risk.
Other densely populated hotspots include the cities of Dammam and Jeddah (37 and eight days of heat respectively) in Saudi Arabia, Bandar Abbas and Ahwaz (29 and three days) in Iran, Lahore (24 days) in Pakistan, Dubai (20 days) in the UAE, Delhi and Kolkata (six and five days) in India.
Extreme heat is life-threatening not only due to heatstroke, but also due to complications of cardiovascular, respiratory, kidney and other diseases.
The study results show that humanity needs to prepare for, adapt to and mitigate extreme heat now, the researchers noted.
