Millions of people risk death due to increasing heat wave frequency: IPCC report

United Nations, Nov 19(ANI): Millions of people face a risk of death due to heatwaves caused by man- made climate change, a UN report has warned.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report found that that it is "virtually certain" that the hotwaves' frequency would increase by a factor of 10 if the world continues to emit carbon dioxide and other gases at the current rate.

The report is the United Nation's first review of the impact and solution to global warming.

The report, however, admitted that it is difficult to gauge the climate change impact.

For instance, according to report, it is likely that rainfall will increase in many areas by 2100, particularly in the tropics.

However, the report admitted that flooding or drought situation is not solely caused by man made climate change but also other factors like land use change play a significant role.

IPCC co-chair Qin Dahe said countries having weak infrastructure and inadequate disaster planning will be hit harder by man- made climate change, the Telegraph reports.

"There is high confidence that both maximum and minimum daily temperatures have increased on a global scale due to the increase of greenhouse gases," he said.

"Changes in other extremes, such as more intense and longer droughts are observed in some regions, but the assessment assigns medium confidence due to a lack of direct observations and a lack of agreement in the available scientific studies. Confidence in any long-term trend in tropical cyclone intensity, frequency or duration is assessed to be low," he added.

Global Warming Policy Foundation said the IPCC was more careful this time to clarify uncertainties after 'Himalayagate'.

The IPCC had earlier come under fire for over-estimating the impact of climate change, after mistakenly claiming that the Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035.(ANI)