Even after half of November, winter has not arrived entirely in Northern India, including Delhi. The earth's average temperature is rising annually, which is the reason behind this. The world has been focusing on this temperature rise due to a report published in the British journal Lancet.
The Lancet report states that 2023 has already turned out to be the hottest year on record. And now, each year sees an increase in the number of heat-related deaths. This report states that during the four years between 2018 and 2022, 86 days have proven to be extremely hot worldwide. The majority of the causes of rising temperatures can be solely attributed to human activity.
The number of heat-related deaths in adults over 65 has increased by 85%. Owing to the rising temperatures, one-third of the world's population relied on air conditioners in 2021. However, the amount of electricity used by air conditioners alone during this time was equal to the combined electricity consumption of Brazil and India.
According to a Lancet report, heat is becoming more lethal; the average annual temperature is currently rising at a rate of 1.14 degrees Celsius. Our ability to work will be reduced to half by 2050 if the average temperature rises by 2 degrees. By 2050, the number of heat-related deaths will rise 370 times. A 50% labor loss can be expected as a result of the heat.
Moreover, there will be a 37% rise in illnesses like dengue. The number of dengue cases in developing nations has risen by 37% in the past ten years, and the risk of contracting the disease has gone up by 43% in just four years. Dengue fever and other infectious diseases spread by mosquitoes will kill more people if the temperature fails to decrease.
Additionally, the report has issued a pollution warning. People are being forced to live in toxic air due to the 1337 tonnes of carbon dioxide that dissolve in the atmosphere every minute. The amount of coal consumed has decreased, but automobile smoke continues to kill people.
Car emissions of PM 2.5 are the ones causing the most harm. Fossil fuels power 95% of vehicle traffic, which results in deaths. An estimated 4 lakh 60 thousand deaths annually attributed to PM 2.5, or fine dust and smoke particles produced by transportation, would be prevented if these vehicles began operating on renewable energy.
These days, smog, construction, and automobiles are the main causes of the rise in PM 2.5 in Delhi NCR. Similarly, the amount of poor fuel used in automobiles and factories has decreased globally, as has the number of illnesses and fatalities brought on by PM 2.5, or fine dust particles.
The Lancet report claims that PM 2.5 emissions from fuels like coal contributed to 14 lakh deaths in 2005. The number of fatalities resulting from this has decreased to 12 lakhs in 2020. However, Delhi NCR continues to rank first among the world's most polluted locations.
In this instance, it was not possible to decrease the number of vehicles or halt construction. Because of this, the weather is always covered in a deadly layer of smoke when the temperature decreases. Just 2% of the electricity produced in developing nations comes from solar or wind power.
In wealthy nations, new techniques account for 11% of electricity production. One of the main causes of the ongoing temperature rise is the process of producing and using electricity. 78 lakh people died in 2020 as a result of malnutrition, and 18 lakh people died as a result of consuming too much dairy, which includes processed red meat, eggs, chicken, and milk products.
By 2022, the world lost 264 billion dollars in a single year as a result of extreme weather events like excessive rain, drought, fire, and flood. Drought affected 18% of the world's land area between 1951 and 1960, but 47% of it was impacted in the ten years between 2013 and 2022. An estimate of $863 billion has been put on the loss attributed to heat.
