India, Oct. 29 -- Continuing overreliance on fossil fuels has been playing havoc with people's lives, health, and livelihoods across the globe. Nearly two-thirds of the indictors tracking climate-linked health threats have reached unprecedented levels, a just-published global scientific report has found.

The ninth Lancet Countdown annual indicator report, led by University College London and produced in strategic partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), represents the work of 128 leading experts from 71 academic institutions and UN agencies globally.

The report says failure to curb the warming effects of climate change, mainly caused by burning of fossil fuels, pushed up "the rate of heat-related deaths (by) 23% since the 1...