United Nations, July 26 : As global temperature records tumbled three days in a row this week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for international action to limit the impact of heat and save lives.

"Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic -- wilting under increasingly deadly heatwaves, with temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius around the world. That's 122 degrees Fahrenheit -- and halfway to boiling," he said at a news conference here on Thursday.

"This past Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were the three hottest days on record," he said, citing Copernicus Climate Change Service data.

"Heat is estimated to kill almost half a million people a year, that's about 30 times more than tropical cyclones," he added.

"Extreme heat amplifies inequality, inflames food insecurity, and pushes people further into poverty," he said.

Guterres called for action in four areas to ameliorate the effects of the heatwaves sweeping the world: Care for the most vulnerable; increased protection for workers; boost the resilience of economies and societies, and action to fight climate change by committing to keep temperature increase to 1.5 degrees.

To protect the most vulnerable, he said, "We must respond by massively increasing access to low-carbon cooling; expanding passive cooling ' such as natural solutions and urban design; and cleaning up cooling technologies while boosting their efficiency."

He referred to a report from the International Labour Organisation on the effect of heat on workers released on Thursday that warned that more than 70 per cent of the global workforce ' 2.4 billion people ' are now at high risk of extreme heat.

In the Asia-Pacific region, three out of four workers are exposed to extreme heat, it said.

Guterres said, "All of this is having a profound impact on people and the economy."

When daily temperatures rise above 34 degrees, labour productivity drops by 50 per cent and heat stress at work is projected to cost the global economy $2.4 trillion by 2030, up from $280 billion in the mid-1990s," he added.

He called for worker protection measures and said, "We must ensure that laws and regulations reflect the reality of extreme heat today and are enforced."

To build resilience against increasing heat, he said, "We need a concerted effort to heatproof economies, critical sectors, and the built environment."

He added, "Countries, cities, and sectors need comprehensive, tailored Heat Action Plans, based on the best science and data."

While today, the focus is on the impact of extreme heat, "there are many other devastating symptoms of the climate crisis: Ever-more fierce hurricanes... Floods... Droughts... Wildfires... Rising sea levels," he said.

"To tackle all these symptoms, we need to fight the disease" which he said were "the addiction to fossil fuels," and "climate inaction".

"All countries must deliver by next year nationally determined contributions ' or national climate action plans ' aligned to limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius," he added.

He said all countries must phase out fossil fuels "fast and fairly," coal in particular, and towards that goal cut global consumption and production of fossil fuels by 30 per cent by 2030.

At the same time, he said, "We must recognise that a lot is being done."

"The increase of renewable energy we are witnessing is the fastest increase of energy production by any means in history," he added.

While many things like increasing the number of electric cars are happening, it is "too little, too late," he said.

"The problem is that climate change is running faster than all the measures that are now being put in place to fight it. And that is why it is important to understand that we need a huge acceleration of all the dimensions of climate action," he added.

According to Copernicus, the daily global average temperature recorded across oceans and land saw records tumble at 17.09 degrees Celsius on Sunday, and on Monday at 17.16 degrees, and on Tuesday hold almost steady at 17.15 degrees.

The previous record set last year on July 6 was 17.08 degrees. (The temperatures may appear low because they aggregate the readings in the hottest regions and the coldest polar regions, but in fact, show marked increases over time. In the 10-year range, 15.72 degrees was the highest temperature for the year recorded on July 11, 1975.)

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

/IANS