The prevailing 'super El Nino' over the equatorial Pacific might cause around 15,800 additional heat-related deaths in India over the next six months, compared to a normal year, a new study claimed on Wednesday.
NEW DELHI — The prevailing 'super El Nino' over the equatorial Pacific might cause around 15,800 additional heat-related deaths in India over the next six months, compared to a normal year, a new study claimed on Wednesday.
The climate phenomenon could push global land temperatures 1.2 degrees Celsius above normal in the coming months, resembling the higher temperatures that climate change is projected to deliver in the next 20 years, the report by the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute said.
El Nino conditions that emerged in June are expected to intensify into "a very strong event" in the coming months and persist through February 2027, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said.
This will result in about 239,000 excess deaths worldwide between September this year and February 2027, the report claimed.
“Over just the next six months, the report projects 66,800 additional deaths across the Sahel in Africa, with nearly half of those lives being lost in Nigeria (31,400). Elsewhere in the region, Sudan will face 17,500 additional heat deaths, Niger will face 10,000, and Chad 8,000,” says the University of Chicago in a statement.
“In Southeast Asia, the extra heat is projected to cause an additional 19,400 deaths in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia, and 19,300 deaths in Indonesia. India is projected to see 15,800 more deaths, while in South America, Brazil is most impacted with 13,300 deaths from El Nino’s heat,” it added.
The report has called for emergency response and resilience efforts in these high-priority regions, with the potential to avoid tens of thousands of deaths.
The measures include heat early warning systems, heat action plans that let health officials target vulnerable populations with home visits, and expanding water availability.