Heat from climate crisis now killing one person every minute, global report reveals

Rising global temperatures are now killing one person every minute worldwide, according to a major report on the health impacts of the climate crisis reported by The Guardian.

The comprehensive study reveals that the world’s addiction to fossil fuels is not only causing heat-related deaths but also toxic air pollution, wildfires, and the spread of diseases such as dengue fever, with millions dying annually due to the failure to tackle global heating.

Led by University College London (UCL) in collaboration with the World Health Organization, the 2025 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change represents the most detailed assessment to date of climate impacts on human health.

“This report paints a bleak and undeniable picture of the devastating health harms reaching all corners of the world,” said Dr Marina Romanello of UCL, who led the analysis.

“The destruction to lives and livelihoods will continue to escalate until we end our fossil fuel addiction”.

The report warns that health damage will worsen with leaders such as Donald Trump dismantling climate policies while oil companies continue to exploit new reserves.

Heat-related deaths have surged by 23% since the 1990s, even after accounting for population increases, reaching an average of 546,000 annually between 2012 and 2021.

“That is approximately one heat-related death every minute throughout the year,” said Professor Ollie Jay of the University of Sydney, who participated in the analysis team. “It is a really startling number, and the numbers are going up.”

The study, produced by 128 experts from more than 70 academic institutions and UN agencies, found that in the past four years, the average person has been exposed to 19 days annually of life-threatening heat, with 16 of those days attributable to human-caused global heating.

Despite these alarming findings, governments provided £723 billion in direct fossil fuel subsidies in 2023, the same amount people lost due to high temperatures preventing them from working on farms and building sites.

This subsidy figure vastly exceeds the £227 billion annually pledged at the UN climate summit COP29 in 2024 to support the most climate-vulnerable countries.

Fifteen countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Venezuela, and Algeria, spent more on fossil fuel subsidies than on their national health budgets. The UK provided £21 billion in fossil fuel subsidies in 2023, while Australia allocated £8.3 billion.

The report notes that the world’s 100 largest fossil fuel companies increased their projected production in the year up to March 2025, which would lead to carbon dioxide emissions three times those compatible with the Paris climate agreement target of limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Commercial banks continue supporting this expansion, with the top 40 lenders to the fossil fuel sector collectively investing a five-year high of £462 billion in 2024. Their green sector lending was lower at £402 billion.

Despite these concerning trends, the report highlights some positive developments. Reduced coal burning has saved about 400 lives daily in the last decade, and renewable energy production is rising rapidly.

“If there’s any optimism it comes from the action by local communities and authorities, and by the health sector – those that are really in contact with people on the ground,” Romanello said.

“They are seeing the impacts with their own eyes and are stepping up because they just become undeniable, but we must keep up the momentum”.

Laura Clarke, chief executive of environmental law firm ClientEarth, said, “We are living through the era of climate consequences. Heatwaves, floods, drought and disease are no longer distant warnings – they’re here now. But as attribution science, climate litigation and grassroots activism grow, accountability for climate impacts is no longer a question of if but when”.