Global Warming May Be Killing 160,000 People a Year

Climate change and its side effects may be killing about 160,000 people a year, with children in developing countries particularly vulnerable, according to a new report by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the World Health Organization. By 2020, the annual number of deaths attributed to climate change could almost double. The majority of the deaths are expected to occur in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, where people are more vulnerable to malnutrition, malaria, and diarrhea as hotter temperatures settle in and floods and droughts become more common. Milder winters could mean fewer cold-related deaths in Europe and North America, said Andrew Haines of the LSHTM, but those benefits would be significantly outweighed by higher rates of disease.