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A woman drinks water from a mug on a hot summer day in New Delhi, India June 9, 2023

What risks do we face because of rising heat?

Updated: May 07, 2024

Average temperatures are rising and deadly heatwaves are surging around the globe as ever-increasing use of coal, oil and gas powers climate change.

What can be done to limit the physical, mental, economic and social risks of rising heat? In countries from India to the United States to Iraq, we take a look at the risks and what can be done about them.

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A woman suffering from heat-related illness lies on a stretcher with her father next to her at a hospital in Ballia District, Uttar Pradesh, India, June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Climate RisksFrom the Philippines to Mali, countries struggle to count heat deaths
Sahil, a vegetable vendor, who only uses his fist name, sits at his shop in Noida, India, on June 20, 2024. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Bhasker Tripathi
Climate RisksIndian heatwave exposes a cooling challenge for fresh food
A medical attendant stands by an ice-making machine installed in the heatstroke care unit at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in Delhi, India. June 13, 2024. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Bhasker Tripathi
Climate RisksIce baths and ventilators: India's hospitals adapt to killer heat
Narendra Singh, a water tanker driver, drives his truck to deliver water at low-income neighbourhoods in Delhi, India, June, 23, 2024. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Prabhat Mehrotra
Climate RisksWater tanker drivers a lifeline as Delhi gripped by extreme heat
Aqsa Shabbir trains at the Star Women's Sports Academy in Jacobabad, Pakistan, on January 15, 2024. Erum Baloch/Handout via Thomson Reuters Foundation
Climate RisksGame changer: extreme heat stifles women's sports in Pakistan
Prison inmate lies on his bed at Oak Glen Conservation Fire Camp #35 in Yucaipa, California November 6, 2014. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
Climate RisksCalifornia heat protections at risk from push to exclude prisons
Men use a stole to cover from heat as they wait in a line outside a polling station to cast their votes during the sixth phase of India's general election, on a hot summer day in Bhubaneswar, India, May 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
Climate Risks'My body and phones gave up': covering India's heatwave election
A man showing symptoms of heat exhaustion touches a bottle of water provided by paramedics during a heatwave in Mexicali, Mexico, July 20, 2023. REUTERS/Victor Medina
Climate RisksHigh heat + big talk: Mexico president hopefuls flunk climate test
A man pours water on himself during a heatwave in Turin, Italy, August 25, 2023. REUTERS/Massimo Pinca
Green CitiesHow cities around the world are finding ways to beat extreme heat
A vendor uses a fan to cool himself as he waits for customers on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Kolkata, India, May 2, 2024. REUTERS/Sahiba Chawdhary
Climate RisksIn a boiling world, chief heat officers battle 'silent killer'
Volunteer Nayon Sorkar tending plants as part of the Gulshan Lakeside greening initiative in Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 26, 2024. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Mosabber Hossain
Climate RisksBangladesh influencers push tree planting to fight record heat
Women and children wash themselves after work at a muskmelon farm in Jacobabad, Pakistan. May 17, 2022. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
Climate RisksHow can workers be protected from extreme heat?

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