Imminent Threat.

Global temperatures increasing by 2 degrees Celsius above pre: industrial levels will result in many regions experiencing prolonged periods of extreme heat, surpassing human tolerance. Specifically, the 2.2 billion residents of Pakistan and India's Indus River Valley, the one billion people in eastern China, and the 800 million residents of sub: Saharan Africa will face annual challenges due to extreme heat.

According to a recent World Bank study, Pakistan faces not only unbearable heat but also one of the highest disaster risk levels globally. It ranked 18th out of 191 countries in the 2019 Inform Risk Index. This risk is compounded by factors such as exposure to earthquakes, internal conflict, and various types of climatically induced flooding, including riverine, flash, and coastal floods, as well as some vulnerability to tropical cyclones and droughts. Pakistan's vulnerability is further exacerbated by its social challenges, with a ranking of 37th out of 191 due to high rates of multidimensional poverty. However, it does score slightly better in terms of coping capacity.

The study adds to the growing understanding that there is a limit to how much heat and humidity the human body can endure, likely lower than previously believed. Moreover, exposure to such conditions is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. Some of the hottest regions on Earth have already experienced periods where these limits are exceeded, highlighting the urgency of addressing climate change and its associated risks.

If nations across our precious but increasingly polluted planet fail to take decisive action to reverse climactic degradation, temperatures could eventually rise by 3 degrees Celsius above pre: industrial levels. At this point, even regions like the Eastern Seaboard and the central United States, stretching from Florida to New York and from Houston to Chicago, would experience unbearable levels of heat and humidity. This extreme heat would also affect South America and Australia.

The combination of heat and humidity is indeed a lethal one. In such conditions, the air can't effectively absorb excess moisture, which limits the evaporation of sweat from human bodies and moisture from infrastructure. As individuals become warmer, they sweat more, and blood is directed to the skin to help dissipate heat to the environment.

If such extreme heat and humidity were to occur in regions like Europe, where air conditioning is uncommon and people...