Lethal humidity may be one of climate change’s most overlooked threats

(Robert Glasser – ASPI The Strategist) By late this century, more than 50 percent of humanity could be exposed to life-threatening heat and humidity. But one of climate change’s deadliest emerging risks remains poorly understood: lethal humidity. Climate change is not only warming the planet. It is increasing humidity, because warmer air holds more moisture. While the role of climate change in amplifying extreme heat has been widely studied, only recently have the alarming implications of its combination with high humidity become clearer. High humidity dramatically reduces the body’s ability to cool itself, significantly lowering the temperature at which severe health effects occur. The synergistic effect of extreme heat and humidity is rapidly moving large, densely populated regions of the world towards the limits of physiological survivability. –  Lethal humidity may be one of climate change’s most overlooked threats | The Strategist