Stricter climate goal would save lives

摘要

Meeting a more stringent worldwide goal to limit global warming may prevent thousands of heat-related deaths in 15 major U.S. cities, a study shows. The projections illustrate the high risk urban populations face from climate change.Under the Paris Agreement, participating countries have pledged to curb greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of limiting warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius over preindus-trial times by 2100 (SN: 1/9/16, p. 6). Depending on the city, keeping warming to 2 degrees could mean 75 to 1,980 fewer deaths in an especially warm year, compared with a scenario in which the world warms by 3 degrees, researchers report June 5 in Science Advances.