Mortality and other costs of climate change
Mortality from climate change
Two studies have estimated how many climate related deaths will happen as a result of CO
2 emitted. Both estimates were around one climate death for each 4,000 tonnes CO
2 emitted.
- A paper published in Nature [1] estimated one death per 4,434 tonnes CO2. The paper pointed out that this is equivalent to the lifetime emissions of 3.5 average Americans. This was reported in The Guardian [2].
- A second paper [3] gave an estimate of one death per 1,000 tonnes carbon burnt - which releases 3,700 tonnes CO2.
Loss of habitable land due to heat
Information comes from a study of unprecedented heat [4]. Some key conclusions are that
- global warming has already exposed about 9% of the world's population (over 600 million) to unprecedented heat
- current policies, leading to global warming of around 2.7°C, would leave about one third of the world's population exposed to unprecedented heat.
Biodiversity loss
As global warming worsens, the effects get more severe. For example, the SR15 report (reference [5], p179) explains that multiple lines of evidence indicate that the majority (70-90%) of warm water (tropical) coral reefs that exist today will disappear even if global warming is limited to 1.5°C.
References
First published: 15 Apr 2023
Last updated: 19 Sep 2023
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