MILAN: At least 150,000 people die needlessly each year as a direct result of global warming, three major UN organizations warned on Thursday. The belief that the effects of climate change would become apparent in 10, 20 or 50 years time was misplaced, they said in a report. The changes had already brought about a noticeable increase in malnutrition, as well as outbreaks of diarrhoea and malaria, the three “big killers” in the poorest countries of the world.

The report was published at the climate talks in Milan, where ministers are trying to put the finishing touches to the Kyoto protocol, designed to put legal limits on developed countries’ greenhouse gas emissions. Russia’s ratification of the protocol is needed for it to come into force.

Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, a World Health Organization scientist, said the estimates of deaths were extremely conservative and the reality was probably far higher. They were expected to double in the next 30 years. “People may say that this is a small total compared with the totals who die anyway, but these are needless deaths. We must do our best to take preventative measures,” he said.

Although the rises in death and diseases were most marked in poorest states, they were worldwide. Global warming led to drought and a shorter growing season, and malnutrition weakened people, particularly children, making them susceptible to killer diseases.

The most recent example of people being caught unawares was the summer heatwave in Europe, where the initial estimates of excess deaths are still being revised upwards, with 25,482 people now known to have died in the unusually high temperatures, 2,045 of them in England and Wales. In some badly affected countries, such as Germany, the results have still not been made public.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.