Humanity is already enduring cumulative effects from climate change and damages will continue to mount along with carbon emissions, a new study has found. Tropical coastal regions will be the most exposed to multiple hazards.

The research – which involved analysis of 3280 research papers and was published on Tuesday by Nature Climate Change – identified 467 pathways that populations were already being hit by a warmer climate. Those impacts will likely increase and intensify unless aggressive efforts are taken to curb greenhouse gas pollution.

California burning: Tim Billow, 62, tries to save his plantings in his backyard as the Woolsey Fire burns in Malibu earlier this month. Credit:Ringo H.W. Chiu

"We never stopped being surprised by how many impacts had already happened to us," said Camilo Mora, an associate professor at the University of Hawaii and lead author of the paper. (An interactive can be seen here.)

"It was also mind-blowing that we just refuse to wake up about how serious this is," he said.