Global Heat Crisis Worsens Due to Climate Change, Study Finds
Global Heat Crisis Worsens Due to Climate Change, Study Finds
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A new study reveals that half the world’s population endured an additional month of extreme heat in the past year due to human-caused climate change, Arab News reported. Researchers analyzed May 2024–May 2025, defining “extreme heat days” as temperatures exceeding 90% of local 1991–2020 records. Compared to a hypothetical world without fossil fuel emissions, 4 billion people faced ≥30 extra extreme heat days.
The Caribbean’s Aruba suffered most, with 187 extreme heat days—45 more than expected. The study, released ahead of Heat Action Day (June 2), links all 67 analyzed heat events to climate change. Global temperatures in 2024 surpassed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, breaching the Paris Agreement’s symbolic threshold.
Heat-related deaths are underreported, especially in developing nations, due to misattribution to underlying illnesses. Experts urge early warning systems, urban heat plans, and adaptive measures like improved building design. However, they stress that only a rapid fossil fuel phase-out can curb escalating heat extremes.
