Humanity suffering from 'extreme heat epidemic', says UN chief

2023 was hottest year on record but 2024 could set new high, and temperatures well above 40ºC are increasingly common

A Moroccan shepherd checks his phone while sitting on cracked earth at Al Massira dam in Ouled Essi Masseoud village, about 140km south of Casablanca. AFP

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for action to limit the effects of heatwaves fuelled by climate change, saying humanity is suffering from an “extreme heat epidemic”.

Over the past 100 days, a deadly heatwave hit the Sahel, leading to a sharp rise in hospital admissions and deaths.

Countries from Saudi Arabia to India have reported heat-related deaths, heatstroke warnings have been issued across Japan, and schools have been closed for about 80 million children in Africa and Asia.

“Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic, wilting under increasingly deadly heatwaves, with temperatures topping 50°C around the world,” Mr Guterres said in a speech in New York.

“That's … halfway to boiling.”

The US has also witnessed new temperature records.

While 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded, and 2024 could set another high, temperatures well above 40°C are increasingly common.

According to the European Copernicus network, July 21, 22 and 23 were the three hottest days ever recorded worldwide.

“The climate crisis is driving crippling heat everywhere,” said Mr Guterres. “Climate change is delivering a hotter and more dangerous world for all of us.”

He called on the world’s wealthiest nations to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, stop new coal projects, and provide support to developing and vulnerable countries facing climate effects including heatwaves, flooding and droughts.

“Leaders across the board must wake up and step up,” Mr Guterres said.

Data from the International Labour Organisation, published on Thursday, estimates that 70 per cent of the global workforce – or 2.4 billion people – are now at high risk of extreme heat.

Workers in Africa, the Arab states, and Asia and the Asia-Pacific are most exposed to excessive heat.

In Africa, nearly 93 per cent of the workforce is exposed to excessive heat, and 84 per cent of the Arab states' workforces, the ILO report found.

“The good news is that we can save lives and we can limit its impact,” Mr Guterres said.

He called for measures to protect workers and on governments to make meaningful decreases in fossil fuel emissions, the driver of climate change.

“We must respond by massively increasing access to low-carbon cooling; expanding passive cooling, such as natural solutions and urban design; and cleaning up cooling technologies while boosting their efficiency,” Mr Guterres said.

Between 2000 and 2019, extreme heat claimed about 489,000 lives a year, with 45 per cent of these deaths occurring in Asia and 36 per cent in Europe, according to the UN.

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