With the world currently on track for 2.7°C of average global warming by 2100, aggressive reductions in climate pollution are an imperative to avoid “catastrophic” harms to human health, says the latest in a series of reports from eminent medical journal The Lancet. With the release of the report, an open letter signed by 46 million health professionals is urging COP President Sultan Al Jaber, who also serves as CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, to “commit to an accelerated, just and equitable phaseout of fossil fuels and invest in a renewable energy transition.” The findings of the 2023 Report of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change are grim. “Governments, the corporate sector, and banks continue to invest in oil and gas extraction and development even as the “challenges and costs of adaptation soar,” a level “negligence” that is generating “grave and mounting” threats to public health, the authors say in a release. Any further delays on action to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C pose a “catastrophic threat to the health and survival of billions of people all over the world and to successful adaptation efforts,” the authors add. Already, “heat-related deaths in people aged over 65 increased by 85% in 2013-2022 compared to 1991-2000, substantially above the 38% increase expected had temperatures not changed,” based solely on changing demographics. And higher temperatures mean more hunger.        “More frequent heatwaves and droughts were responsible for 127 million more people experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity in 122 countries in 2021, than annually between 1981 and 2010,” says the report. Higher heat can also make it too hot to work. Some 490 billion potential labour hours were lost globally to heat in 2022, “with income losses accounting for a much higher proportion of GDP in low- (6.1%) and middle-income countries (3.8%).” Global heating also poses a devastating risk to healthcare systems. Even at today’s average warming of 1.14°C), 27% of cities the Lancet authors surveyed reported health systems that are “being overwhelmed by the impacts of climate change.” Permitting global temperatures to rise to 2°C by 2100 will be disastrous for human health, especially amongst the already vulnerable, The Lancet writes. Under such a scenario, “yearly heat-related deaths are projected to increase by 370% by mid-century, with heat exposure expected to increase the hours of potential labour lost globally by 50%.”Meanwhile, “more frequent heatwaves could lead to around 525 million more people experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity by 2041-2060,” producing a higher global risk of malnutrition.     https://www.theenergymix.com/2023/11/14/46m-health-professionals-urge-fossil-phaseout-as-lancet-countdown-warns-of-dire-impacts/