(ANSA) - ROME, JULY 09 - Every year in the world five million excess deaths are due to abnormal temperatures, both too high and too low.
According to a study coordinated by Monash University and published by the journal Lancet Planetary Health, according to which more than half of these effects are seen in Asia, but Europe is also affected in a significant way.
The researchers compared mortality and temperature data recorded in 43 countries around the world between 2000 and 2019, a period in which temperatures rose 0.26 degrees for every decade. According to the study, 9.4% of global deaths are due to excess temperatures, with the cold being responsible for most of the mortality. "Global warming in the short term can reduce deaths related to temperature, especially because the mortality linked to the cold will decrease - explains Yuming Guo, the lead author -, however in the long term the general mortality will increase, because instead the deaths from the heat will continue to increase" .
Eastern Europe, explains the expert, has shown in the estimate the highest number of deaths linked to the heat, while sub-Saharan Africa has the primacy of those linked to the cold. Over 2.6 million deaths a year, however, occur in Asia, especially in the eastern and southern parts of the continent. (HANDLE).