Study warns on climate change in South East Asia
Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 5:38 pm
Heat in South Asia could exceed survivable levels by 2100: Study
3 August 2017
The study in the journal Science Advances warned of "summer heat waves with levels of heat and humidity that exceed what humans can survive without protection."
The research is based on two climate models. One is a "business-as-usual" scenario in which little is done to contain climate change, and the second is aimed at limiting temperature rise to well below two degrees Celsius, as pledged by more than 190 nations under the 2015 Paris climate accord.
The study is the first of its kind to look not just at temperatures, but at the forecast of "wet-bulb temperature," which combines temperature, humidity and the human body's ability to cool down in response.
The survivability threshold is considered to be 35 degrees Celsius, or 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
Under a business-as-usual scenario, "wet-bulb temperatures are projected to approach the survivability threshold over most of South Asia, and exceed it at a few locations, by the end of the century," said the report.
About 30 per cent of the population in the region would be exposed to these harmful temperatures, up from zero per cent at present, said the report.
The densely-populated farming regions of South Asia could fare the worst, because workers are exposed to heat with little opportunity for escape into air-conditioned environments...
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asi ... dy-9087264
3 August 2017
The study in the journal Science Advances warned of "summer heat waves with levels of heat and humidity that exceed what humans can survive without protection."
The research is based on two climate models. One is a "business-as-usual" scenario in which little is done to contain climate change, and the second is aimed at limiting temperature rise to well below two degrees Celsius, as pledged by more than 190 nations under the 2015 Paris climate accord.
The study is the first of its kind to look not just at temperatures, but at the forecast of "wet-bulb temperature," which combines temperature, humidity and the human body's ability to cool down in response.
The survivability threshold is considered to be 35 degrees Celsius, or 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
Under a business-as-usual scenario, "wet-bulb temperatures are projected to approach the survivability threshold over most of South Asia, and exceed it at a few locations, by the end of the century," said the report.
About 30 per cent of the population in the region would be exposed to these harmful temperatures, up from zero per cent at present, said the report.
The densely-populated farming regions of South Asia could fare the worst, because workers are exposed to heat with little opportunity for escape into air-conditioned environments...
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asi ... dy-9087264