Climate change is having significant and detrimental effects on people and communities around the world and a recent study is raising the alarm suggesting that nearly 1 billion mostly poor people could die due to climate change by the end of the century.
The authors of the study, Joshua Pearce of Western University in Ontario, Canada, and Richard Parncutt of University of Graz, in Austria, conducted a meta-analysis on studies that examine fatalities caused by climate change impacts. They reached the conclusion that “a future person is killed every time 1000 tons of fossil carbon are burned.”
The researchers also suggested that “if warming reaches or exceeds 2°C this century, mainly richer humans will be responsible for killing roughly 1 billion mainly poorer humans through anthropogenic global warming, which is comparable with involuntary or negligent manslaughter.” The scientists accentuated the role of wealthy humans based on research showing that they are disproportionately among the so-called “super emitters” or wealthy individuals whose carbon footprint is significantly greater than that of ordinary people.
“Such mass death is clearly unacceptable. It’s pretty scary really, especially for our children,” said Pearce, Western’s John M. Thompson Chair in Information Technology and Innovation and lead author of the study.
When climate scientists run their models and then report on them, everybody leans toward being conservative, because no one wants to sound like Doctor Doom. We’ve done that here too and it still doesn’t look good.
Joshua Pearce, сo-author of the study
Pearce is hoping that by changing and challenging the language and metrics of global warming, more policymakers and industry leaders will better understand the nefarious impact of the world’s reliance on fossil fuels. The authors argue that measuring emissions in terms of human lives makes the numbers easier for the public to digest, while also emphasizing how unacceptable our current inaction is.
“As predictions of climate models become clearer, the harm we are doing to children and future generations can increasingly be attributed to our actions,” added Pearce. To stress that point, the scientists have applied the 1000-ton rule to the Adani Carmichael coalmine in Australia – set to become the largest coalmine ever. If the entirety of this coalmine’s reserves are exhausted, the authors say it could cause the premature deaths of about 3 million people in the future.
