Inequality in human exposure to future climate extremes

The authors assessed future changes in population exposure to floods, heatwaves, droughts, and compound hot-dry events, which are defined as the product of population and the likelihood of these events.

The findings show that low-income countries are projected to experience more severe exposure to these events, primarily due to accelerated population growth rather than climate change. Exposure inequality between high- and low-income countries decreases as event severity increases, with the effects of population growth diminishing and the impact of climate change becoming more pronounced. While compound hot-dry events have a greater overall impact compared to single events, the inequality in exposure to these events is less pronounced.