Scientists and prophets are full of doom and gloom about the end of days. Sadly, with the way things are going, they don't seem far from the truth.
If it's not 2024 YR4 asteroid or alien invasions threatening the future of the human race, it's the looming effects of global warming taking place.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are locked in a constant battle of avoiding microplastics sneaking into our food and products, whilst simultaneously trying to dodge the lifestyle habits that could raise our risk of Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases.
In 2024, research warned that a staggering 30 million lives could be wiped out by 2100 as a direct result of climate change, and the UN has since declared the world's climate imbalance a 'state of emergency.'
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But a chilling new study brings that threat much closer to current times, suggesting the real reckoning could arrive much sooner than any of us would like to think.
According to scientists from the Catholic University of Argentina, hundreds of thousands of premature deaths could occur by the year 2050.
The research team investigated data from the World Health Organization (WHO) from 2000 to 2022, showing how rising temperatures affect physical activity.
For every month where average temperatures exceed 27.8°C, physical inactivity will rise by 1.4%.
In lower and middle-income countries, that figure jumps to 1.85%, and in hotspot nations closer to the Equator, inactivity levels could reach as high as 4% by 2050.
A less active population means a surge in heart disease, diabetes and cancer - and hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths as a result.
The findings, published in The Lancet Global Health, suggest between 470,000 and 700,000 people worldwide could die within the next 24 years from the effects of inactivity.
Already, around one in three adults worldwide fails to meet the WHO's recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. As temperatures rise further, even that baseline is going to become harder to meet.
Speaking to Metro, Jim NR Dale, who founded the British Weather Services, said: "I think the number could actually be quite a lot higher, depending on the speed of climate change and the temperature profile from country to country."
Without significant action, Earth is on track to warm by 2.7 to 3.1°C by 2100. Dale admits this might not sound like much on paper, but as he puts it: "Neither does a drop of arsenic in your coffee, but it will kill you."
The findings form part of a growing body of research examining the less obvious consequences of a warming planet.
"The thing is, heat kills," Dale added. "Heat deaths are going to be more likely and the effects on people’s mobility – to be able to exercise, even do their jobs, if they even have one, and just being able to survive on a daily basis."
As shared by Metro, Climate change campaigner and author Matthew Todd warns that extreme heat pushes the human body to its absolute 'limit.'
He said: "At high heat and humidity, something called wet-bulb temperature can prevent the human body from cooling itself and can quickly become fatal.
"If you want to have nightmares, do a search on the increase in wet-bulb temperatures."
Todd concluded: "This is not a future problem. It’s happening now, and it’s speeding up."