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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: July 25, 2025

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.

Latest

A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as it burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles, California, U.S. January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu
Climate RisksHow extreme heat affects wildfire risk
Juanita Pérez Sierra shades her face from the blistering sun on Comunidad Nuevo Lago’s “ranch,” seven acres of communal land residents use for big events like a recent quinciñera, in Fresno, California, U.S., July 1, 2025. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rachel Parsons
Climate RisksResident ownership helps US mobile homes weather climate change
Girls play in a shaded passage at the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School in Rajasthan, northwest India, designed by New York architect Diana Kellogg. Photo taken 2021 by Vinay Panjwani. Diana Kellogg Architects/Handout via Thomson Reuters Foundation
Green CitiesHow schools are being built for extreme heat - without aircon
Children study in a classroom in this illustration photo. The photo shows signs of heat in schools: a melting clock and school sign, a sign reading 37 degrees and a thermometer. One child holds a notepad over his head, one drinks water, and two others study at their desk. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Mayo Akin-Oteniya
Climate RisksSchool's out for summer: What does extreme heat do to children?
Grade 12 students use a portable electric fan and hand fans inside a classroom in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, April 18, 2024. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David
Climate RisksQ&A: Heatwaves hit schools, putting millions of children at risk
Workers and advocates take part in a Washington event on June 19 in favor of a national workplace heat standard. Fired Up For Heat Justice | National COSH/Handout via Thomson Reuters Foundation
Money, Power & PeopleIn extreme heat, U.S. looks at worker protection standards
A woman collects fish from a fishing boat after it arrived on shore in Bali, Indonesia December 5, 2017. Antara Foto/Hafidz Mubarak A/via REUTERS
Climate RisksAs marine heatwaves intensify, Bali’s fishers hunt far and wide
Truck drivers sit near lines of aid trucks for Gaza waiting to be deployed, in Al Arish, Egypt, July 4, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky
Climate RisksExtreme heat poses new challenge for aid agencies in Gaza
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

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A Palestinian mother sits next to her malnourished son, at a school where they shelter amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 24, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Gaza: The devastating legacy of two years of conflict

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Context reporter Andre Cabette Fabio poses for a photo in a firefighters uniform during a reporting trip in Corumbá, Brazil, September, 11, 2024. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Henrique Kawaminami
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Children study in a classroom in this illustration photo. The photo shows signs of heat in schools: a melting clock and school sign, a sign reading 37 degrees and a thermometer. One child holds a notepad over his head, one drinks water, and two others study at their desk. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Mayo Akin-Oteniya
Too hot to learn? How extreme heat affects the world's schools

Updated: August 11, 2025