A landmark global study has found that extreme heat is now killing one person every minute, with millions dying each year from the combined health impacts of the climate crisis and governments’ failure to act.
The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, led by University College London and the World Health Organization, found heat-related deaths have surged by 23% since the 1990s, reaching an average of 546,000 deaths per year between 2012 and 2021. Researchers said nearly all these deaths are preventable.
“Millions of people are dying needlessly because of our delay in cutting fossil fuels and adapting to a hotter world,” said Dr Marina Romanello, the report’s lead author.
The study also found that people worldwide endured an average of 19 days of life-threatening heat each year, while heat and drought caused 639 billion lost labour hours in 2024, equating to 6% of GDP losses in the poorest nations.
Despite the escalating harm, governments handed out $956 billion in fossil fuel subsidies in 2023—far more than the $300 billion pledged to climate-vulnerable countries. The world’s 100 biggest fossil fuel firms also plan to expand production, generating three times more carbon than allowed under the Paris Agreement.
Romanello warned that a healthy future “is not possible” without ending fossil fuel financing but said hope remains in local action, clean energy, and climate-adaptive policies already emerging worldwide.
