Climate change is adversely impacting about 85 percent of the global population spread across roughly 80 percent of all land, finds a study conducted in Germany. A team of researchers leveraged machine learning (ML) technology to sift through some 1,00,000 climate change-related research papers published between 1951 and 2018 to arrive at this conclusion. The team was led by Max Callaghan of Berlin's Mercator Research Institute.

According to the study, nations are experiencing the impact of climate change in different ways such as heatwaves, floods, wildfires, and record-breaking temperatures, among others. The study also points out significant changes in temperature and precipitation due to global warming.

“We have overwhelming evidence that climate change is affecting all continents, all systems,” Callaghan told AFP.

The researchers pointed out that the impact of climate change might well be much more severe as the research papers analysed did not cover low-income countries and geographies. “The lack of evidence in individual studies is because some locations are less intensively studied, rather than an absence of impacts in the areas,” said the study.

The study comes ahead of COP25, the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference, scheduled to kick off in Glasgow on October 31.

On the limitations of the study, the researchers said that the change in terrestrial systems could not be conclusively attributed to global warming. Additionally, ML technology can generate “false positives and other uncertainties” while processing information at such a huge scale.

Earlier this week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had called upon governments to step up action on climate change, saying, “The burning of fossil fuels is killing us. Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity.”

Despite this risk to humanity, nations have doled out $5.9 trillion in subsidies for the production of coal, oil and gas in 2020, says a study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

WHO added that environmental risks such as air pollution and chemical exposure are killing 13.7 million people globally every year.

(Edited by : Anshul)

First Published:Oct 16, 2021 11:46 AM IST