Heat stress exposure climbed from 16% to 22% worldwide over 50 years, study shows

The number of people exposed to dangerous heat stress worldwide has risen sharply over the past half-century, propelled by climate change, according to a study released Monday as Europe sweltered through a punishing heat wave.

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"But that's an extra approximately one billion people that are seeing at least some extreme heat stress now that wouldn't have done in the 1970s," she added.

The study used the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), which represents the temperature it "feels like," by including factors such as humidity, wind, radiation and how the human body responds to heat.

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View the study