Scientists made history: ‘The Earth will be a place where 40 percent of humanity cannot survive’. US scientists have announced that living conditions in tropical areas around the equator will not be suitable for largely living in the next decade due to global warming and increasing humidity.
AGE THERMOMETER TEMPERATURE OVER 35 DEGREES RESULT IN DEATH
People’s ability to regulate their body temperature varies depending on the temperature and humidity of the air. The researchers explained that body temperature remained relatively constant at 37 degrees Celsius, while skin temperature was lower to allow heat away from the inner body. However, the wet bulb temperature (the temperature read with a thermometer covered with a cloth soaked in water and over which air is passed.
At 100 percent relative humidity, the wet bulb temperature is equal to the air temperature; wet bulb temperature at low humidity, lower than dry bulb temperature due to evaporative cooling), if it exceeds 35 degrees, the resulting high skin temperature means that the body cannot cool itself and may result in death.
“If the air is very humid, the human body cannot cool off by sweating,” said Yi Zhang, who directed the new study published in Nature magazine. “High temperatures are dangerous and deadly” he said.
The research team looked at various historical data and simulations to determine how wet bulb temperature extremes will change as the planet continues to warm. He then discovered that in the tropics, wet bulb temperature increased at the same rate as average global temperatures.
TEMPERATURES CAN EXCEED THE HUMAN LIMIT IN 10 YEARS
This means that the temperature increase in the world should be limited to 1.5 degrees in tropical areas to prevent the wet bulb temperature from exceeding 35 degrees. However, the world warmed by an average of around 1.1 degrees Celsius due to human activity, and although governments pledged to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the Paris Climate Agreement, scientists warned that this limit would be exceeded within ten years.
40 PERCENT OF THE WORLD POPULATION AT DANGER
It was stated that this would cause dire consequences for a large part of the world population. About 40 percent of the world’s people currently live in tropical countries, and this proportion will reach half of the global population by 2050, depending on the large proportion of young people in the region.
The researchers focused on regions between 20 degrees south latitude, including Mexico, Libya, and India, and 20 degrees north latitude that crosses Brazil, Madagascar and the northern regions of Australia.
Scientists have discovered that extreme heatwaves can push parts of the Middle East beyond human endurance, and rising temperatures pose great risks to parts of China and India. Studies have revealed that potentially fatal humidity and heat events doubled globally between 1979 and 2017.
COLD WEATHER INFRASTRUCTURE IS A MUST IN POOR COUNTRIES
Mojtaba Sadegh, an expert on climate risks at Boise State University, said in a statement on knuya that the rising temperatures did “a great job” to analyze how “in the absence of significant infrastructure investments” could make parts of the tropics uninhabitable.
Sadegh, who was not involved in the research, said, “If this border is crossed, the establishment of infrastructure such as cold air shelters is definitely necessary for human survival. Given that most of the affected area is made up of low-income countries, it will be difficult to provide the necessary infrastructure. Theoretically, no person can tolerate wet bulb temperature above 35 degrees, regardless of how much water they need to drink, ”he said.
Source: https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/
Scientists Gave History: ‘The World Will Be A Place Where 40 Percent Of Humanity Cannot Survive’
