If carbon emissions are limited to slow temperature rise, as many as 6,000 child deaths could be prevented in Africa each year, according to new estimates.

A team of international scientists, led by the University of Leeds in collaboration with researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), have shown that thousands of heat-related child deaths could be prevented if temperature increases are limited to the Paris Agreement’s 1.5ºC target through to 2050.

However, heat-related child deaths could double in sub-Saharan Africa by mid-century if high emissions continue.

Their work, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, estimated the impact of climate change on annual heat-related deaths of children under five in sub-Saharan Africa, from 1995 to 2050.

Read more at University of Leeds

Photo Credit: Clodoaldomassagli via Pixabay