Scientists forecast 450,000 global heat deaths related to El Niño

Scientists are forecasting more than 450,000 deaths because of intense heat generated by El Niño in the coming months, according to a new study from the Climate Impact Lab. And that’s in addition to the people likely to be killed by other climatic effects such as drought, wildfire and flooding. Most of those heat deaths are expected in Africa and Southeast Asia, but about 3,500 are anticipated in the U.S. About 1,000 are expected in California, said one of the study’s authors, Tamma Carleton, assistant professor of agricultural and resource economics at UC Berkeley. Roughly 450 are likely in Los Angeles and San Diego, she said. That news comes as local and state leaders are scrambling to prepare for the projected effects of this “super El Niño", potentially the most intense warming of the water on the surface of the Pacific Ocean on record.