Climate Change Could Reduce Life Expectancy by 6 Months; Women Will Be Hit Harder Than Men

Climate change could affect our lifespan. However, researchers have learned that it would affect men and women differently, and worse for the latter.

Climate Change and Life Expectancy

According to a recent study, the average lifespan will decrease by six months as a result of direct deaths from heatwaves, floods, and other natural catastrophes, as well as indirect deaths from mental health issues. Rising temperatures and rainfall cycles are also contributing factors to this decline.

Using data on temperature and precipitation collected over an 80-year period from over 190 nations, the author calculated that a two-degree increase in temperature would result in a half-year reduction in average life expectancy.

According to the report, starvation, poor nutrition, illnesses, poor mental health, and early deaths are all global effects of climate change that shorten life expectancy. The expert did point out that women would be particularly affected as they are likely to lose 10 months of life.

"The global threat posed by climate change to the well-being of billions underscores the urgent need to address it as a public health crisis," said study author Amit Roy with Bangladesh's Shahjalal University and The New School for Social Research in the US.

The findings showed that, when considered separately, an increase in global temperature of two degrees Fahrenheit is linked to a reduction in the average lifespan of people by roughly 0.44 years, or five months and one week.

The average life expectancy is predicted to drop by six months with every ten-point increase in the composite climate change index, which considers temperature and rainfall.

Using a standardized framework, the Climate Change Index compares the climate performance of the EU and 63 other nations, which are responsible for over 90% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

Roy pointed out that "the global average life expectancy increased significantly between 1960 and 2020 from 55 years to 72 years."

Men grew from 48 to 70 years old, and women from 52 to 74 years old.

According to reports, the extra years were brought on by improved hygiene, clean water, abundant and healthier food, cutting-edge medical treatment, and vaccine and antibiotic advancements.

Although the study was released on Thursday, the report did not include when the average life expectancy will decline globally.

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Men vs Women in Navigation

It seems that things are more favorable for men. There's also a stereotype that men are better navigators than men. But is that really the case?

Researchers from the University of Illinois and other universities compared the "home range size and spatial ability" of 21 distinct animals, including humans, between the sexes to see if evolution affects how the two sexes navigate.

Among the animals included were the European rabbit, rat, chimps, Asian small-clawed otter, diablito poison frog, and humans. The data supporting sex differences was considered to be weak by the researchers.

According to the authors, men did not evolve to become better navigators. Instead, they concluded that biological factors like life experience, rather than evolution, could be responsible for men's greater navigational abilities. The authors stressed that additional research is necessary to investigate this notion fully.

Nevertheless, despite some people's accusations that sexism is to blame and that men are overconfident in their abilities, many women seem to voluntarily agree that men are better drivers.