Fifty-seven hot days globally will be avoided every year if countries deliver the climate mitigation actions they have already promised under the Paris Climate agreement, new analysis has found.
The promised climate actions will also limit the rise in global temperatures to 2.6C by the end of this century, instead of 4C of warming expected before the agreement was signed.
The analysis of the impact of the 10-year-old Paris Climate Agreement was conducted by World Weather Attribution along with Climate Central, an independent group of climate scientists.
Their report confirms the landmark Paris Climate Accord, which was signed in 2015, can help secure a safer climate for all. But it warns that a faster shift away from fossil fuels is needed.
The researchers underscore, however, that even if all the promised climate actions are delivered and global warming is limited to 2.6C, it will still inflict dangerous levels of heat, severe health impacts, and great inequality on future generations.
The scientists are calling for stronger commitments and policies to transition away from fossil fuels so warming can be kept below 2C.
The term "hot days" in this context refers to days where the temperature is warmer than 90% of the daily temperatures observed over a 30-year period.
It says without the Paris Agreement the world was on course to experience 114 days like that, every year, by the end of this century.
Now, thanks to the climate action commitments governments have made under the agreement the world is heading, overall, for half that amount.
For Kenya, it will be 82 fewer hot days by the end of this century.
For Mexico it is 77 fewer, Brazil 69, Egypt 36, Australia 34, India 30, the US 30, the UK 29, China 29, and Spain 27.
The report underscores that keeping warming below 2C is vital because heat becomes more dangerous with every fraction of a degree.
Average global temperatures have already risen 0.3C in the ten years since the Paris Agreement was signed.
Read: Paris Climate Agreement report in full here
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Average of 11 more hot days in countries around world
The scientists say this increase alone has resulted in an average of 11 more hot days in countries around the world.
It has also made heatwaves more likely to occur.
The report says this recent rise in temperature has increased the odds of a heatwave in the Amazon ten-fold.
It also says the chances of a heatwave occurring in India and Pakistan has doubled since 2015, while the likelihood of heatwaves in Mali and Burkina Faso is nine times higher than ten years ago.
In ten countries the 0.3°C of warming over the past decade has resulted in an average of at least 30 more heat days annually.
The 2015 Paris Agreement set the goal of keeping global temperatures well below 2C and to continue pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C, if possible.
Today, warming has reached more than 1.3C but greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to rise.
Heat causing estimated half a million deaths annually
Heat is the deadliest type of weather, causing an estimated half a million deaths each year.
The report says the danger from heat has been underappreciated historically because the impacts are less visible than those of other extreme weather events.
Friederike Otto, Professor in Climate Science at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, said: "The Paris Agreement is a powerful, legally binding framework that can help us avoid the most severe impacts of climate change.
"However, countries need to do more to shift away from oil, gas, and coal. We have all the knowledge and technology needed to transition away from fossil fuels, but stronger, fairer policies are needed to move faster.
"Political leaders need to take the reason for the Paris Agreement much more seriously," she added.
It is about protecting our human rights. Every fraction of a degree of warming - whether it is 1.4, 1.5, or 1.7C - will mean the difference between safety and suffering for millions of people."
