Overview
- The report estimates about 546,000 heat-related deaths each year, 154,000 deaths from wildfire smoke in 2024, and roughly 2.5 million annual deaths from fossil-fuel air pollution.
- Extreme heat cost workers a record 639 billion labor hours in 2024, equating to about US$1 trillion in lost income globally and up to 6% of GDP in the least developed countries.
- The world’s 100 largest fossil-fuel companies increased production plans through March 2025 to levels compatible with roughly triple the CO2 allowed for 1.5°C, supported by $611 billion in bank lending in 2024.
- With 2024 confirmed as the hottest year on record, the average person experienced an extra 16 unsafe hot days attributable to human-driven warming, while dengue’s transmission potential has risen 49% since the 1950s.
- India illustrates the unequal toll, with an estimated 1.72 million deaths from anthropogenic air pollution in 2022 and 247 billion lost labor hours in 2024, costing about US$194 billion.