As climate change continues to rear its ugly head, this summer has been particularly brutal for much of the planet.
A “super El Niño,” a heightened version of a recurring natural climate pattern that triggers unusually hot temperatures, has resulted in the perfect storm, endangering a staggering number of lives with extreme weather.
The prognosis is grim, if not catastrophic. According to the latest report by scientists at the research organization Climate Impact Lab, some 451,000 lives “will be lost due to heat in the first half of this El Niño, compared to a normal year.”
“The estimate of 451,000 people is such a large number that it can be numbing, but it is made up of parents and children, grandparents and neighbors, people going to work, caring for families, and living their lives,” said cofounder and University of Chicago professor Michael Greenstone in an accompanying statement.
