Health toll of climate crisis worsens: Heat deaths increased

The 10th annual report by the Lancet Countdown revealed that the negative impacts of climate change on human health are accelerating, and heat-related deaths have increased by 36 percent compared to the previous decade.

The 10th annual report by the Lancet Countdown, prepared with the contributions of 146 researchers, compared the period after the Paris Agreement with the previous decade. According to the report, annual average temperature-related deaths in the 2016-2023 period increased by approximately 36 percent compared to the 2006-2015 period, and in 2023 alone, 710,000 deaths worldwide were associated with heat. More than 70 percent of the deaths were linked to human-induced global warming.

Studies showed that water risks are growing alongside extreme heat. While approximately 52 percent of the world's land area experienced extreme drought for at least one month in 2025, it was estimated that clean air in 77 countries where fossil fuel-related air pollution decreased prevented approximately 323,000 deaths annually.