Report: 100 Million Could Die From Climate Change by 2030
Report: 100 Million Could Die From Climate Change by 2030 - US News and World Report
A report commissioned by the governments of more than 20 countries found that more than 100 million people will die as a result of climate change by 2030 if the world stays on its current path.
According to the second edition of the Climate Vulnerability Monitor, climate change and fossil fuel use already causes nearly 4.5 million deaths each year, and could increase to about 6 million deaths per year by 2030. The report, released by DARA, an independent, Spanish-based non-profit, suggests that time is running out for the situation to be reversed.
“There is still a window of opportunity, fast closing, to scale back pollution and tame the rising heat. But the world economy is locked onto a different course: fossil fuel consumption is expected to continue its rapid growth in the coming decades,” according to the report. Climate change also has economic effects: According to the report, the United States could lose more than 2 percent of its GDP as it fights crop-killing droughts and water shortages.
But third-world countries are likely to remain the worst hit, as they will be forced to use already limited resources to fight disease and drought. More than 90 percent of deaths caused by climate change are expected to be in third-world countries.