Climate change is already killing people
Heatwave caused by global warming in 2003 led to hundreds of deaths
As we constantly strive to reduce our fossil fuel emission and our impact on the world, climate change can sometimes seem like a problem that is still a few years away from impacting our daily lives.
But a new study has revealed the dangers of climate change are already affecting us and man-made climate change led to the death of hundreds of people across Europe sixteen years ago.
A heatwave in 2003 killed 506 people in Paris and 315 in London, experts have said in a new study.
A fifth of those deaths can be blamed on manmade pollution.
The study led by University of Oxford scientists said there were 315 heat-related deaths in London as Europe experienced its hottest summer on record, out of which 64 were caused by climate change.
The study was the first to calculate the number of premature deaths and it's link to air pollution and warned heatwaves will become more common and more severe in the future.
From June, apart from a brief respite, the UK languished under sustained above average temperatures until the end of August.
Several weather records were broken including the UK's highest recorded temperature 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) at Faversham in Kent on 10 August and Scotland's highest temperature record with 32.9 °C (91.2 °F) recorded a day earlier in Greycrook in the Scottish borders.
France was hardest hit and in Paris, the hottest city in Europe, 506 out of 735 summer deaths were due to a heatwave made worse by man-made climate change.
The results were based on climate modelling and should help officials prepare for future heatwaves and protect the elderly who are most at risk.
It found human-induced climate change increased the risk of heat-related deaths in central Paris by around 70 per cent and by 20 per cent in London.
Researchers stressed the findings apply to just the two cities and the numbers affected by climate change across Europe will be higher.
'It is often difficult to understand the implications of a planet that is one degree warmer than preindustrial levels in the global average, but we are now at the stage where we can identify the cost to our health of man-made global warming,' Dr Daniel Mitchell, from Oxford's Environmental Change Institute said.
'This research reveals that in two cities alone hundreds of deaths can be attributed to much higher temperatures resulting from human-induced climate change.'
The study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters looked at the three months June to August.
It warned no heatwave on record has ever had such a widespread effect on human health, as experienced during those months of 2003.
Previous studies have attributed changes in heatwave frequency and severity to humancaused climate change, or demonstrated the effect of extreme heat on human mortality.
But the study was the first to attribute the number of premature deaths to climate change during extreme heat waves.
Co-author Dr Chris Huntingford, of Oxford's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, added: 'Traditionally, climate research has linked increasing levels of greenhouses gases simply to trends in weather, such as generally higher day-to-day temperatures.
'However, linking the impact of burning of fossil fuels right through to health implications enables much better planning to prepare for any further climatic changes.'
'By starkly showing we can measure the toll in human lives that climate change is already
The hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic has finally begun to ‘heal’ after persisting for years.
A recent study has recorded an ozone increase in the icy region, suggesting the agreement signed nearly three decades ago to limit the use of substances responsible for ozone depletion, is having a positive effect.
As well as creating an identifying ozone increase, it’s slowing the rate of ozone depletion in the stratosphere - Earth's second major atmospheric layer.
Ozone is a gas composed of three oxygen molecules which can be hazardous to our health on the ground, but in the upper atmosphere it protects us by soaking up ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
Without it, the planet's surface would be exposed to dangerous levels of UV-B rays which can shred DNA, leading to mutations that cause cancers.
Previous studies have attributed changes in heatwave frequency and severity to human-caused climate change, or demonstrated the effect of extreme heat on human mortality. But the study was the first to attribute the number of premature deaths to climate change during extreme heat waves
The hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic has finally begun to ‘heal’ after persisting for years. A new study has recorded an ozone increase in the icy region, suggesting the agreement signed nearly three decades ago to limit the use of substances responsible for ozone depletion, is having a positive effect taking through worsening extreme heat, this study shines a spotlight on our responsibilities as a society for limiting further damage,' said co-author Dr Peter Frumhoff of the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge, US. ©Daily Mail, London