The Independent, on Climate, 28 October 2026

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Extreme heat linked to record 710,000 deaths in a single year

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Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Extreme heat linked to record 710,000 deaths in a single year Rebecca Speare-Cole Wednesday 28 October 2026 10:55 GMT Bookmark popover Removed from bookmarks Close popover Related: Climate change is existential for Pacific Islanders.

This is why Experts have called for climate change to be officially declared a global health emergency as the health impacts of global warming outstrip international action. The latest Lancet Countdown report revealed that global annual heat-related fatalities surged by nearly 36 per cent in the decade following the 2015 Paris Agreement. Extreme heat contributed to a record 710,000 deaths in 2023, with researchers directly attributing more than 70 per cent to man-made climate change.

Despite clean energy funding reaching record levels in 2025, fossil fuels still provide over 80 per cent of world energy. Researchers warned that the top 100 oil and gas producers are on track to surpass production limits compatible with 1.5C by 150 per cent by 2040. In full Experts demand climate change be declared a global health emergency as heat-related deaths soar

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About this analysis

The Independent reports the Lancet Countdown finding that extreme heat contributed to a record 710,000 deaths in 2023, and that researchers attribute more than 70 per cent of them to man-made climate change. Its figures match the other coverage of the same report, and its headline stays within what the body says. Nothing in it misleads the reader.

What it gets right

  • “with researchers directly attributing more than 70 per cent to man-made climate change”

    The article ties the heat deaths to human-caused warming and gives the attributed share. Its figure fits the coverage of the same Lancet report, which puts climate-driven heat deaths in 2023 at more than half a million.

  • “fossil fuels still provide over 80 per cent of world energy”

    The article names fossil fuels as the source of the problem rather than leaving the cause of the warming vague.

  • “the top 100 oil and gas producers are on track to surpass production limits compatible with 1.5C by 150 per cent by 2040”

    The article attributes this to the researchers and sets out the gap between planned oil and gas production and the 1.5C limit. That tells the reader who is driving further warming.

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