Climate Change Could Make the Tropics Unliveable, According to Study

Let's get one thing clear: climate change is real. So real, in fact, that we're already feeling its effects. Though the changes aren't as obvious to some—the data doesn't lie—the Philippines keeps recording higher temperatures year after year.

One of the most recent and notable highs in the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration's (PAGASA) heat index was 41°C on September 4, 2020. It's not just here, though. In December, a study revealed that this decade has been the warmest decade on record for the world.

The Philippines (or anyone living in and around the equator, really) gets special attention from climate change as we might feel the wrath of global warming as it makes the country pretty much unliveable due to heat and humidity.

Just how intolerable are we talking? It could reach dangerous and lethal levels, especially in places like Africa, India, and many parts of Southeast Asia. The researchers say cool-air shelters might need to be a necessity for human survival.

"If it is too humid, our bodies can’t cool off by evaporating sweat—this is why humidity is important when we consider livability in a hot place," Princeton University lead researcher Yi Zhang told the Guardian. "High body core temperatures are dangerous or even lethal."