Climate change is making heat waves more frequent, intense and longer lasting. Every year, approximately half a million people die because of extreme heat, which also threatens vital ecosystems — such as coral reefs — now on the brink of collapse.
According to a report released this Thursday (16) by Global Climate Attribution (WWA) and by Climate Centralmeeting current targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions could avoid up to 57 days more than compared to a scenario in which the Paris Agreement didn’t exist.
Scientists warn that without stronger global efforts to contain warming, the planet is heading towards a catastrophic future. “We are not yet seeing the maximum level of ambition needed, and that is a huge problem,” said WWA climatologist Friederike Otto.
“This lack of action will take a heavy toll — in lives and the livelihoods of the world’s poorest populations.”
Although heat is the deadliest extreme weather phenomenon, it often goes unnoticed in the face of more visible disasters such as floods and storms. Same small increases in temperature are already enough to cause serious impacts on plants, animals and humans.
In this context, intensifying and meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement represents a crucial difference for millions of people across the planet.
Paris Agreement
About 10 years ago, in 2015, the company made a commitment to keep the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels: specifically, the goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit the increase in temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
However, in recent years, the planet has already registered an average warming of approximately 1.4 °C compared to pre-industrial levels. This increase has made heat waves longer and more intense, increasing the number of deaths and worsening climate crises in several regions.
Recent extreme events, such as record temperatures in Europe in 2023 — which resulted in around 47,000 deaths — and intense heat in the southern United States and Mexico in 2024, illustrate the severity of the problem. In these areas, extreme heat also intensified the drought and increased socio-environmental impacts.
According to a report from Climate Central, episodes like these are becoming five to 75 times more likely due to .
If the world fails to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the global average temperature could rise by at least 2.6 °C by the end of the centuryeven with the achievement of current goals. This would represent an additional 57 days of extreme heat per year compared to the current climate.
Scientist Kristina Dahl, vice president of science at Climate Central, warns that “we are still heading towards a dangerously hot future” and that many countries “are not prepared even for the level of warming we are already facing”.
Even so, experts highlight that, without the Paris Agreement, the scenario would be much more alarming: the planet could reach 4 °C of warming by 2100, which would mean 114 days of extreme heat per year — double what was predicted based on current climate promises. These “extreme heat days” are defined as periods in which temperatures are well above the normal average for a given region.
According to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2024 was the hottest on recordand concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere have reached historic levels. Despite this worrying advance in global warming, there are signs of progress: for the first time, renewable energy sources have surpassed coal as the planet’s main electrical source.
The study concludes that the Paris Agreement has so far managed to move the world away from the most dangerous climate scenarios, albeit temporarily. However, experts warn that current efforts remain insufficient. To limit global temperature rise to less than 2°C, countries need to step up cuts in greenhouse gas emissions — and many have not yet even presented concrete goals for this.
