[MCN] We've sentenced children to 1, 000 years of deadly heat waves

[Lance Olsen]

A study led by Susan Solomon found that the CO2 we add to the atmosphere every day remains there for centuries, “so that atmospheric temperatures do not drop significantly for at least 1,000 years<<https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/106/6/1704.full.pdf <https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/106/6/1704.full.pdf>>>.” 

As of 2016,  EPA reported that, “Children are particularly vulnerable to heat-related illness and death, as their bodies are less able to adapt to heat than adults, and they must rely on others to help keep them safe<<https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-08/documents/print_heat-deaths-2016.pdf <https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-08/documents/print_heat-deaths-2016.pdf>>>.”

As of June 22, 2017, the distinguished science journal Nature could tell its readers that, “A death zone is creeping over the surface of Earth, gaining a little more ground each year,”<<https://www.nature.com/news/heatwaves-to-soar-above-the-hot-air-of-climate-politics-1.22164 <https://www.nature.com/news/heatwaves-to-soar-above-the-hot-air-of-climate-politics-1.22164>>>. Nature referred its readers to a study published by sister journal, Nature Climate Change.That study found that outdoor “deadly heat” already affects 30% of the human population at least 20 days a year<<https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate3322 <https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate3322>>>. 

One day of deadly heat is bad enough to push a kid into potentially lethal “heat exhaustion <<https://www.mayoclinic.org/first-aid/first-aid-heat-exhaustion/basics/art-20056651 <https://www.mayoclinic.org/first-aid/first-aid-heat-exhaustion/basics/art-20056651>>>.”

By the twentieth day of deadly heat, risks soar. But the Nature Climate Change article also found that, even with “drastic” reductions of emissions, deadly heat waves will be affecting 48% of the human population for at least 20 days a year. 

That’s the best case scenario for the next 1,000 years, nearly half the human world in the grip of a deadly heat wave lasting three weeks in a row. 

Without the major reductions, we get a worse-case scenario with 75% of the human population affected by deadly outdoor heat for the next 1,000 years. Is avoiding that risk too much to ask?



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“The climate crisis is both the easiest and the hardest issue we have ever faced. The easiest because we know what we must do. We must stop the emissions of greenhouse gases. The hardest because our current economics are still dependent on burning fossil fuels ….”

“You don’t listen to the science because you are only interested in solutions that will enable you to carry on like before.”

Greta Thunberg’s invited address to the British Parliament
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/23/greta-thunberg-full-speech-to-mps-you-did-not-act-in-time


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