A one-degree heat increase caused twice as many deaths in India
Biswaranjan Rou / AP
Researchers found that deaths caused by heat waves in India more than doubled after the country's temperature increased by nearly one degree Fahrenheit since 1960, the New York Times reports.
The study suggested that "future climate warming will lead to substantial increases in heat-related mortality" in other developing countries like India, where "populations are especially vulnerable" to extreme temperatures.
Why it matters: The 2015 Paris climate accord, from which President Trump recently withdrew the United States, aimed to limit global temperature increase to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit by reducing emissions around the globe. This new study revealed that India's 0.9 degree Fahrenheit increase in 50 years raised the probability of a heat wave with over 100 deaths from 13% to 32%. Experts "expect India's temperature to rise by four to 10 degrees" by the end of this century.