Climate Change and the Escalation of Global Extreme Heat

A World Weather Attribution study found that human-caused climate change increased the likelihood of extreme heat for 6.3 billion people globally, adding an average of 26 extreme heat days per location over the last year.

• A study using World Weather Attribution criteria identified 76 extreme heat waves affecting 90 different countries, placing billions of people at risk, particularly in South America, the Sahel, and densely populated regions of East and South Asia.
• Approximately 78% of the global population, or 6.3 billion people, experienced at least 31 days of extreme heat—defined as temperatures hotter than 90% of local observations from 1991-2020—that became at least twice as likely because of human-induced climate change.
• Human-caused climate change resulted in an average increase of 26 days of extreme heat across all global locations compared to a scenario without a warmed planet over the previous 12 months.

APA

World Weather Attribution (2024). Climate Change and the Escalation of Global Extreme Heat. https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/heat-action-day-report-climate-change-and-the-escalation-of-global-extreme-heat/

Chicago

World Weather Attribution. Climate Change and the Escalation of Global Extreme Heat. 2024. https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/heat-action-day-report-climate-change-and-the-escalation-of-global-extreme-heat/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Weather Attribution |title=Climate Change and the Escalation of Global Extreme Heat |date=28 May 2024 |url=https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/heat-action-day-report-climate-change-and-the-escalation-of-global-extreme-heat/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldweatherattribution2024climate, author = {{World Weather Attribution}}, title = {{Climate Change and the Escalation of Global Extreme Heat}}, institution = {World Weather Attribution}, year = {2024}, month = may, url = {https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/heat-action-day-report-climate-change-and-the-escalation-of-global-extreme-heat/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }