Death Warmed Over

Climate Change Tied to 150,000 Deaths a Year, WHO Says

How's this for classic gloom and doom: Climate change led to 150,000 premature deaths in 2000, and the annual number of such deaths could double in 30 years if current warming trends are not reversed, according to a new report by the World Health Organization. Global warming hits hardest in developing countries and tropical areas, where rising temperatures often lead to drought, malnutrition, and an ever-widening range for disease-bearing mosquitoes. Nor are wealthy nations immune: Some 20,000 Europeans died this past summer as a result of a sweltering heat wave that swept the continent. We're struggling to infuse humor into this one. So a U.S. climate negotiator walks into a bar ...