Limiting warming to 1.8 degree C could prevent loss of 1.89 billion years of healthy life: Analysis

) Limiting global warming to around 1.8 degrees Celsius, instead of allowing it to reach 4.4 degrees Celsius, could prevent the loss of 1.89 billion years of healthy life to causes such as extreme heat and air pollution, according to a new Lancet Commission .

Researchers said that the true burden could be even greater and that without sharp cuts to emissions, health losses would continue to compound beyond 2100, increasingly intensify other threats, such as migration, in ways not yet reflected in these numbers.

The authors of The Lancet Commission on "21st Century Global Threats to Health", launched at the World Health Summit 2026 in Berlin, Germany, examined hundreds of possible threats.

They identified 17 threats posing the greatest danger to human health and survival between 2025 and 2100. These are also the threats that can be averted through policy changes, funding decisions and innovation, they said.