News Highlight
The Lancet report estimated over 3,30,000 people died in India due to exposure to particulate matter from fossil fuel combustion in 2020.
Key Takeaway
- Ahead of this year’s United Nations climate change conference (COP27), a major new report has said that the continued dependence on fossil fuels is compounding the health impacts of the multiple crises the world is facing.
- The new findings were presented in the seventh annual global report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change.
Major findings of the report
- Economic loss
- The report states that in 2021, Indians lost 16,720 crore potential labour hours due to heat exposure with income losses equivalent to about 5.4% of the national GDP.
- Climate change
- Stating that climate change is amplifying the health impacts of multiple crises, the report further found that from 2012 to 2021, infants aged under one experienced a higher number of heatwave days.
- Growth season for maize
- The climate change added that the duration of the growing season for maize has decreased by 2%, compared with a 1981Â-2010 baseline, while rice and winter wheat have each decreased by 1%
- Heat-related deaths
- From 2000-2004 to 2017-2021, heat-related deaths increased by 55% in India.
- Dengue transmission
- From 1951-1960 to 2012-2021, the number of months suitable for dengue transmission by Aedes aegypti rose by 1.69%, reaching 5.6 months each year.
- Urban green
- As per this report, 45% of urban centres in India are classified as moderately green or above.
What are fossil fuels?
- About
- Fossil fuels are buried flammable geologic deposits of organic substances such as dead plants and animals that got deposited under several thousand feet of silt.
- These deposits decayed with the passage of time and got converted to natural gas, coal and petroleum due to the extreme heat and pressure inside the earth’s crust.
- They are also known as non-renewable sources of energy as it takes a very long time for them to replenish.
- Types
- Coal
- Petroleum
- Natural gas
The Lancet
- About
- The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal.
- It is the world’s highest-impact general medical journal, and one of the oldest.
- Foundation
- It was founded in England in 1823.
Content source: The Hindu