According to a new Oxford study, climate change will get worse in the coming decades as nearly 90 per cent of the world's population will face extreme heat and drought conditions. The study published in Nature Sustainability says the combined threats of heat and drought put societies and ecosystems at a much higher risk than when either of them is considered independently. The researchers made the predictions using a large and complex climate-hydrology model. More importantly, countries in the global South will be disproportionally impacted by these extreme weather conditions.

“South America, Horn of Africa, southern Africa, Middle East, eastern China, and northern India might experience more severe risks of compound heat-drought hazards than other regions. We have projected a consistent intensification tendency [of the conditions] throughout the 21st century. But, we find that from 2060, the intensification rate will increase,” Jiabo Yin, lead author of the paper, told indianexpress.com over email.

These extreme weather conditions are seen as a direct consequence of greenhouse gas emissions. It is also feared that these will undermine the planet’s ability to reduce the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere using carbon sinks.