Tropical deforestation is driving severe health risks...

A new Nature Climate Change study warns that tropical deforestation is driving severe health risks, with around 28,000 heat-related deaths annually—about half a million over 20 years. Researchers say local warming occurs within days of trees being cleared, as forests lose their natural “sweating” process that cools the climate. More than 300 million people now face higher heat exposure, particularly in Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Brazil. The World Resources Institute and Google DeepMind report that 177 million hectares of forest lost since 2001 are unlikely to regenerate naturally.

Thursday, 28 August, 2025