Mass suffering looms amid global warming

PARIS: Curbing global heating at 1.5°C will avert runaway climate change but not mass suffering in developing nations, a consortium of 50 researchers warned yesterday.

Some 200 million people in poorer regions will be exposed to unliveable heat, and half a billion will face rising seas even if the world meets the Paris target of a 1.5°C cap, they said in a major study. If exposing humanity to “significant harm is to be avoided, the just boundary should be set at or below 1°C”, they said. The Earth’s average surface temperature has already risen 1.2°C, but greenhouse gas emissions remain at record levels.