“Uncomfortably hot days” are on the rise with the UK and Switzerland expected to be the worst affected countries globally, according to a new study.
The UK and parts of northern Europe will suffer more than other places since the homes are "dangerously underprepared" for overheating.
Homes designed in these areas are generally supposed to keep the heat in, making the relative increase in the “uncomfortably hot days” a bigger struggle in these parts of the world, reports Sky News.
"Even a small increase in the temperatures are actually showing a high relative change [in the number of uncomfortably hot times]," which can "make these countries more vulnerable to needing more cooling," said lead study author Dr Nicole Miranda from Oxford University, according to Sky News.
A complex scientific measure of when people need assistance when it comes to cooling down helped the study define “uncomfortably hot days”.
Roughly, this translates to the average (mean) temperature of a 24-hour period being at least 18C despite temperatures potentially peaking at around 25-30C or higher.
The team behind the study worked on the presumption that the world’s temperature will rise by 2C.
This is as a globally agreed target of limiting warming to 1.5C seems to be “increasingly out of reach” and could be reached by 2027, reports Sky News.
According to Climate Action Tracker, the planet could warm by 2C at around the middle of this century and it’s on track to reach an increase of 2.7C by 2100 under the policies currently in place.
As people attempt to cope with the higher temperatures, the scientists have warned that a “vicious cycle” was in development.
Dr Miranda told reporters: "By buying more air conditioners, we use more energy, leading to higher greenhouse gases and global warming, and then we buy more air conditioners again.”
"We need to break that cycle", Dr Miranda added, reports Sky News.
They said a variety of things can help break the cycle including installing shutters on windows to keep the sun out and using ceiling fans.
Changing dress codes and altering working hours especially for those who work outside could also help break the cycle.
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