April 10, 2008 4:06 PM PDT
150,000 deaths annually attributed to global warming
Rising temperatures on the planet are killing off the equivalent of a mid-sized city every year.
The World Heath Organization attributes about 150,000 global deaths a year, according to the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank, in a report released today. Malnutrition due to crop shortages is having an impact, but so is the spread of infectious diseases like malaria. Mosquitoes carrying malaria have now been found in traditionally cooler climates like South Korea. Increases in asthma can additionally be linked to warming.
Summer heat waves are also taking their toll and expect to see refugees increase in low-coastal nations like Bangladesh. In the 1990s, 600,000 people died from weather-related causes.
