News Climate

Just a small rise in global temperatures could be deadly

By mid-century, lots of spots around the globe could hit temperatures hazardous for human health

A seated man splashes water from a bottle on his face

If global temperatures average 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, many parts of the world may experience extreme heat events hazardous to human health.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images News

By Meghan Rosen

Large swaths of Earth may soon be too hot for humans to handle.

As early as mid-century, roughly a billion hectares of land — about the land area of the United States ­— or more could hit temperatures hazardous for human health, scientists estimate February 4 in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.