Study links nearly 3 million deaths to climate change since 2016
A new study estimates that climate change has been linked to nearly 3 million deaths since 2016, adding to evidence that a warming climate is worsening risks to human health.
AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 4 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 1 of 4 outletsHow it's made
View timeline · 6 entriesWhat happened
Key facts
- A new study estimates that climate change has been linked to nearly 3 million deaths since 2016.
- The study links the deaths to climate change, adding to evidence that a warming climate is worsening risks to human health.
- Nearly 150 researchers are calling for climate change to be declared a global health emergency.
- Alan Dangour, director of climate and health at the Wellcome Trust, said, “This cannot continue.”
- The Wellcome Trust funded the Lancet report.
The brief
The annual Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change says climate change was responsible for nearly 3 million deaths since 2016, including more than half a million heat deaths in 2023. Nearly 150 researchers from more than 30 countries are urging that climate change be declared a “global health emergency,” according to ABP Live.
The researchers point to several measures of health and economic harm. The area affected by extreme drought, which threatens food and water supplies and raises disease risk, grew more than 700% faster than in the decade before, the report says. Heat also cost the world an estimated $1.07 trillion, or around €962 billion, in lost potential income last year.
The findings are presented in the annual Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change. ABP Live reports that Alan Dangour, director of climate and health at Wellcome Trust, said, “This cannot continue.” Wellcome Trust funded the report.
The call for an emergency declaration is also reflected in the headline from ABS-CBN, which says a study argues climate change must be declared a “global health emergency.” ABC Australia’s headline describes the study as counting almost 3 million climate change-related deaths. Those headlines do not provide additional figures or detail on the researchers’ proposal.
The account also notes a countervailing trend: renewable energy growth partly helped reduce deaths from fossil fuel air pollution in half of the 140 countries assessed since 2016. The report estimates that this change prevented 323,000 deaths each year.
Taken together, the figures cited in the report span heat-related mortality, drought-related threats to food and water, disease risk, lost potential income and air pollution. The researchers’ requested designation is the central policy call described in the account; no decision or declaration is reported.
Why it matters
- The estimate frames climate change as a present health burden, not only a future environmental risk, and strengthens researchers’ call for an international health emergency declaration. People exposed to extreme heat, drought, and pollution face risks to health and livelihoods; recognizing the burden could increase pressure on governments and health systems to prioritize prevention and preparedness.
What to watch next
- Over the next few weeks, watch whether WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus or the WHO Secretariat responds to researchers’ emergency-declaration call or refers it to member states for consideration.
- In the coming months, look for WHO member states to propose adding climate-related health risks to the agenda of a WHO governing-body meeting, where they could debate a formal response.
- Watch whether the report’s authors and Wellcome Trust publish a concrete policy proposal—such as criteria for an emergency declaration or a plan to track climate-linked deaths.
- Over the next several months, monitor whether national health ministries announce or expand heat-health and climate-related disease plans, and identify new funding to implement them.
How it's being covered
Coverage analysisShow details4 source articles · 4 unique outletsOutlet political mix: Center Only· 4 CenterWhere the outlets are based: Asia 50% · Europe 25% · Other 25%
- Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (4 of 4 rated sources); comparatively few Left or Right-rated outlets have published on the event.
How outlets' accounts compare
Timeline
Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.- The World Meteorological Organization and United Nations Environment Programme established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
- Countries adopted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
- The Lancet Countdown, a collaboration established in 2015, is one effort to monitor connections between climate and health over time.Background · from our historical context
- Countries adopted the Paris Agreement, setting a framework for limiting global warming.Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
- The World Health Organization published a special report on climate change and health ahead of COP26.Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
- The Lancet Countdown published its annual report on climate change and health.Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
How we got here
For much of the modern history of climate science, public debate focused on rising temperatures, melting ice and changes in rainfall.
The health consequences became more prominent as research connected those physical changes to familiar risks: heat illness and cardiovascular strain, worsening air quality, food and water insecurity, and the spread or changing range of some infectious diseases. These effects do not fall evenly.
Original sources
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