The extraordinarily hot and cold temperatures that are becoming more common as climate change accelerates are responsible for 5 million deaths globally every year. Extreme weather accounted for 9.4% of all deaths globally between 2000 and 2019, according to researchers who on Wednesday published the first study linking changes in temperatures to annual increases in mortality. While most deaths have been caused by exposure to the cold, the trend is likely to reverse as the planet warms, they said. “In the long-term, climate change is expected to increase the mortality burden” as heat-related deaths rise, said Yuming Guo, one of the report’s authors and a professor at Monash University. Hundreds of people have already died from heatwaves sweeping across the Northern Hemisphere this summer. The last two decades were the hottest since the pre-industrial era with the 10 warmest years on record occurring during the period. Global warming continues […]