India, May 4 -- Increasing urban vegetation by 30 per cent could save over one-third of all heat related deaths, saving up to 1.16 million lives globally from 2000 to 2019 according to a 20-year modelling study of the impact of increasing greenness in more than 11,000 urban areas.

The study, led by Monash University Professor Yuming Guo and published in The Lancet Planetary Health, showed that increasing vegetation levels by 10, 20 and 30 per cent would:

The impact on lives of increasing urban vegetation is impacted by different climate types, greenness levels, socioeconomic statuses and demographic characteristics

Urban areas in Southern Asia, Eastern Europe, and Eastern Asia have the greatest reduction in heat-related deaths.

The st...