One person dies from extreme heat every minute worldwide: Lancet report

The 2025 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change reveals a 63 per cent rise in heat-related deaths since the 1990s, warning that humanity is edging towards survival limits

The world is heating, but it is not just the planet that’s burning. Every minute, somewhere on Earth, someone dies from heat, according to The 2025 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change.

 

Published in The Lancet on Tuesday, the report reveals that soaring temperatures are now killing nearly 550,000 people every year — roughly one every minute. That marks a 63 per cent jump since the 1990s.

 

The ninth edition of this annual assessment, involving 128 researchers across 71 institutions, paints an alarming picture and urges immediate, health-focused climate action before it is too late.

 

How bad has the rise in heat deaths become?

The report estimates that 546,000 people die each year from heat, a number that has been climbing steadily as global temperatures rise. The researchers found that 84 per cent of the heatwave days people experienced between 2020 and 2024 would not have occurred without human-induced climate change.

 

Infants and the elderly are the most vulnerable. Babies under one year now face nearly four times as many heatwave days as in the 1990s, while adults over 65 face a threefold rise.

Other findings of the Lancet Countdown 2025 report

Beyond heat, the study shows that climate change is now destabilising the systems human life depends on — from food and water to economic productivity.

 

Among its stark findings: 

• Extreme drought affected 61 per cent of the planet’s land area in 2024, triple the 1950s average. 
• Wildfire smoke killed 154,000 people in 2024, the highest ever recorded. 
• Dengue transmission potential has surged by nearly 50 per cent since the 1950s due to warmer, wetter conditions that favour mosquitoes. 
• Labour productivity losses from heat exposure reached $1 trillion in 2024, nearly 1 per cent of global GDP. 
• Night-time sleep loss due to heat rose by 9 per cent, affecting physical and mental health.

‘A tipping point’ for human survival

The study warns that parts of the world are approaching physiological tipping points — thresholds of heat and humidity where the human body can no longer cool itself effectively. In such conditions, even short exposure can cause organ failure or death.

 

Researchers fear these limits may arrive sooner than expected. Latin America, for instance, has seen heat-related deaths more than double since 2000. Many low- and middle-income countries face similar threats, often without reliable cooling systems, healthcare, or early warning infrastructure.

 

Meanwhile, developed nations continue to emit record amounts of greenhouse gases, with 2024 marking the highest global emissions ever recorded despite decades of climate pledges.  

What’s happening to global climate action?

The report highlights waning political commitment as the climate crisis deepens. Mentions of “climate and health” in world leaders’ UN addresses fell from 62 per cent in 2021 to just 30 per cent in 2024.

 

At the same time, net fossil fuel subsidies approached $1 trillion in 2024, with financial support for fossil fuel companies rising 30 per cent, even as renewable energy becomes more profitable.

Urgent calls for action

The Lancet Countdown 2025 urges governments, businesses, and individuals to: 

• Accelerate the shift to renewable energy. 
• Redirect fossil fuel subsidies into healthcare and clean technologies. 
• Strengthen health systems to withstand climate shocks. 
• Train health professionals to manage climate-linked crises. 
• Educate the public on the direct health effects of global warming. 

The path ahead for a livable planet

The authors warn that humanity stands at a crossroads: one path leads to escalating deaths, economic loss, and ecological collapse; the other, to a livable, healthier world powered by clean energy and adaptation.

 

As climate advocates and researchers have long insisted, the time for half measures has passed, and what is needed now is decisive, global action to cool a blistering planet. 

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