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A general view of Fawley Oil Fired Power Station, Southampton, Hampshire
PEOPLE in Britain are increasingly exposed to dangerous extreme heat as global health threats of climate change reach record-breaking levels, experts have warned.
The Lancet’s annual countdown report on health and climate change, published today, reveals that worldwide, people faced an average of 50 extra days of dangerously high temperatures due to climate change last year, while extreme drought affected 48 per cent of land areas.
Frequent heatwaves and droughts left 151 million more people food insecure compared with 1981-2010, the report found.
Unions and climate activists pressure government to consider legislation for maximum working temperature
The recent heatwaves revealed how ill-prepared Britain remains for a hotter future – and how unequal the ability to cope with it has become, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
Extreme heat is now one of the defining public health challenges of a warming world, explains Prof IAN WILLIAMS