Editing IPCC:AR6/SR15/Chapter-3 (section)

== 3.5.5.8 Heatwaves, unprecedented heat and human health ==

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Increases in ambient temperature are linearly related to hospitalizations and deaths once specific thresholds are exceeded (so there is not a tipping point per se). It is plausible that coping strategies will not be in place for many regions, with potentially significant impacts on communities with low adaptive capacity, effectively representing the occurrence of a local/regional tipping point. In fact, even if global warming is restricted to below 2°C, there could be a substantial increase in the occurrence of deadly heatwaves in cities if urban heat island effects are considered, with impacts being similar at 1.5°C and 2°C but substantially larger than under the present climate (Matthews et al., 2017) <sup>[[#fn:r1256|1256]]</sup> . At 1.5°C of warming, twice as many megacities (such as Lagos, Nigeria, and Shanghai, China) than at present are ''likely'' to become heat stressed, potentially exposing more than 350 million more people to deadly heat stress by 2050. At 2°C of warming, Karachi (Pakistan) and Kolkata (India) could experience conditions equivalent to their deadly 2015 heatwaves on an annual basis ( ''medium confidence'' ). These statistics imply a tipping point in the extent and scale of heatwave impacts. However, these projections do not integrate adaptation to projected warming, for instance cooling that could be achieved with more reflective roofs and urban surfaces in general (Akbari et al., 2009; Oleson et al., 2010) <sup>[[#fn:r1257|1257]]</sup> .

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