Climate change

Report: Global Temperatures Hit 1.5°C Record, Heat Deaths Up 23%

Published OCT 29 2025

Story

Above: Firefighters extinguish wildfire in the peatlands of Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, Indonesia on Sept. 26, 2025. Image credit: AL ZULKIFLI/AFP/Getty Images

The Facts

According to the 2025 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change, published Tuesday, heat-related deaths have increased by 23% since the 1990s, reaching an average of 546,000 deaths annually between 2012 and 2021, while governments spent $956 billion on fossil fuel subsidies in 2023.
Guardian
France 24
Global temperatures in 2024 exceeded an estimated 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time, while the world's 100 largest fossil fuel companies reportedly increased their projected production to levels three times greater than climate targets allow.
Guardian
France 24
Heat exposure resulted in a record 639 billion potential hours of lost labor productivity in 2024, with income losses totaling $1.09 trillion, while 15 countries spent more on fossil fuel subsidies than on their national health budgets.
The Lancet
The Times of India
EurekAlert!
Air pollution from wildfire smoke reportedly resulted in a record 154,000 deaths in 2024, a 36% increase from the 2003-2012 yearly average, as hotter, drier conditions have fueled more severe wildfires globally.
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Fossil fuel-related air pollution caused 2.5 million deaths annually, while the global transmission potential of dengue fever has risen by up to 49% since the 1950s due to a changing climate that affects disease vectors.
Downtoearth
EurekAlert!
The shift away from coal has prevented an estimated 160,000 premature deaths annually between 2010 and 2022, while renewable energy generation reached a record high of 12% of global electricity production in 2022.
The Telegraph
The Economic Times

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The Spin

Climate-concerned narrative

Climate change is not just about rising seas and polar bears — it's hurting humanity right now. The warming world is hitting human health across many fronts: floods and droughts, deadly heat waves, polluted air, malnutrition and infectious diseases on the move. Poorer countries are hardest hit, straining fragile health systems and widening inequality. Communities everywhere are feeling growing mental stress, displacement, and economic instability as impacts worsen. It's time to treat climate not just as an environmental issue — but a global health emergency. The world must act to protect human health, not just ecosystems.

Dw.Com

Scimex

Climate-skeptic narrative

The Earth's atmosphere, inherently chaotic, precludes reliable weather forecasts beyond weeks, yet anthropogenic alarmists proclaim precise CO₂-driven catastrophe. Climate varies constantly — from Eocene tropics to Ice Ages. Sure, the climate has changed over Earth's history — but that doesn't mean human CO₂ emissions are the dominant driver today. The models we're told to trust struggle with clouds, oceans and solar cycles. Rather than claim a crisis, we should admit uncertainty, question heavy-handed policies, and focus on adaptation rather than alarm.

Watts Up With That?