２度の気温上昇で米年間死者２１００人増の恐れ、事故多発の傾向　研究

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】たった2度の気温上昇により、米国で負傷して死亡する人が毎年2100人増える恐れがあるとした研究結果が13日、発表された。地球温暖化によって引き起こされる新たな危険性が浮き彫りとなった。（写真は資料写真）
　医学誌ネイチャー・メディシンに掲載された論文によると、増える死者の多くは１５～３４歳の男性とみられる。気温上昇に伴ってアルコールの消費量が増えることで、溺れたり交通事故に遭ったりする危険が高くなるという。
　英国と米国の研究者らが、１９８０年から２０１７年までの負傷による年間死者数を州ごとに調査。自動車事故や転落、水死など事故によるものと、暴力や自殺といった故意的な死因で分類した。
　その後、同時期における気温の異常変動を郡ごとに確認したところ、負傷による死者数は、特に南部のカリフォルニア州やテキサス州、フロリダ州などの人口の多い州で、暖かい時期に増える傾向があることが分かった。
　論文の著者らはこの調査結果に関し、負傷して死亡する危険性と、気候変動による世界的な気温上昇の間に強い関係があることを示していると述べた。
　論文の上席著者、インペリアル・カレッジ・ロンドンのマジド・イザーティ教授は、「今回の新たな研究結果により、気候変動が若者にどう影響するのかが明らかとなった」とし、「救急サービスや社会的支援、健康被害に警告する観点から、こうした脅威に対する備えを十分にして対応する必要がある」と主張した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/01/15-13:00）

A rise in temperature of just two degrees Celsius could lead to an additional 2,100 deaths from injuries every year in the United States, researchers said Monday, highlighting another danger posed by global warming.
Most of the extra fatalities would be men aged 15-34 years due to a heightened risk of drowning and road traffic accidents, with alcohol consumption tending to rise in line with temperatures.
Researchers from Britain and the US studied the number of deaths from injuries on a state-by-state basis for every year between 1980 and 2017.
The deaths were classed either as accidental -- from vehicle crashes, falls, drowning and so on -- or intentional, from say assault and suicide.
They then tracked unusual temperature changes for each county over the same period and found that deaths from injuries tended to rise during warmer months, particularly in populous southern states such as California, Texas and Florida.
The authors of the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, said the findings indicated a strong link between the risk of dying from injury and rising global temperatures triggered by climate change.
These new results show how much climate change can affect young people, said Majid Ezzati, senior study author and a professor at Imperial College London.
We need to respond to this threat with better preparedness in terms of emergency services, social support and health warnings.
Data from the National Center for Health Statistics analysed by the team showed that in the 1980-2017 period, 4.1 million boys and men died from injury compared with 1.8 million girls and women.
They found that warmer temperatures increased the risk of dying from drowning and transport accidents, linked to increased swimming, driving and alcohol intake.
They used a statistical model to predict the number of additional deaths in a given year depending on whether temperatures warm 1.5C or 2C.
These are the temperature targets that nations agreed to work towards in the 2015 Paris climate accord.
The team found that 1.5C of warming would bring an additional 1,600 deaths each year; 2C of warming would see around 2,100 more.
With just 1C of warming since pre-industrial times so far, Earth has already experienced a cascade of deadly climate-related disasters that kill thousands of people and displace millions each year.
President Donald Trump plans to formally pull the US from the Paris deal later this year.