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January 28 is the big day that we find out where the Doomsday Clock will sit in 2025, and with it, we're expected to tick closer to midnight than ever before.
The Russia-Ukraine war, conflict in the Middle East, and the general state of the Earth are all expected to factor into the Doomsday Clock's new position.
When it comes to the latter, it's an issue that many seem to be sleeping on.
In 2024 alone, the USA is said to have experienced 27 weather and climate disasters, ranging from tropical cyclones to winter storms - each costing over $1 billion. 2025 got off to an equally devastating start, with the Southern California wildfires leading to at least 29 deaths and causing over $250 billion in damage.
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Climate change deniers will say it's not a thing, but with 2024 being the warmest year on record and global temperatures soaring to 1.5°C (2.7 °F) above pre-industrial levels, the Earth is clearly changing.
Although we dread to think what the future of the planet will look like, scientists at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine have warned that the knock-on effect will likely lead to millions of deaths.
A study published in Nature Medicine predicts that some 5.8 million Europeans will die due to climbing temperatures between 2015 and 2099. Looking at models from 854 European cities, Barcelona is expected to see a spike of 246,082 temperature-related deaths. This is followed by Rome (147,738 deaths), Naples (147,248 deaths), and Madrid (110,131 deaths) as literal hotspots where death tolls are poised to soar due to climate change.
There's an unexpected side effect that 3.4 million cold-weather deaths will be prevented, but on the whole, an excess of 2.3 million deaths isn't exactly good news.
Worryingly, the team points out that this doesn't include deaths from catastrophic weather events, meaning the final toll will be a lot higher.
Discussing the research, author Dr. Pierre Masselot said: "Our results stress the urgent need to aggressively pursue both climate change mitigation and adaptation to increased heat.
"This is especially critical in the Mediterranean area where, if nothing is done, consequences could be dire.
"By following a more sustainable pathway, we could avoid millions of deaths before the end of the century."
Even though around 70% of these deaths are thought to be preventable if we act quickly, this doesn't seem likely.
Scientists have warned that global warming is accelerating beyond our control, and with President Trump signing his "Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements" executive order to pull out of the Paris Agreement, things could be about to get a lot worse.
Signed in 2016, the Paris Agreement is an international treaty on climate change that hopes to keep the rise in the global surface temperature well below 2 °C (3.6 °F) above the pre-industrial level. Unfortunately, it set a guideline of 1.5°C which has already been crossed.
While Trump might not seem too concerned by climate change, the deaths of millions is definitely something for the rest of us to think about.
