People Exposed to Climate Change: December 2024-February 2025

Read the full report: People Exposed to Climate Change: December 2024-February 2025
Download the data: Climate Shift Index (CSI) levels for 220 countries, territories and dependencies, and 940 cities around the world

Key Facts

During the past three months (December, January, and February), the effects of human-induced climate change — mainly from burning coal, oil, and methane gas — were evident in most regions of the world, particularly in the form of extreme heat. This analysis uses Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index (CSI) to determine the influence of climate change on temperatures around the globe during this period.

This report finds that human-caused climate change increased heat-related health risks for billions and made extreme heat events more likely around the globe. Key findings include:

• At least one in five people globally felt a strong climate change influence every day from December 2024 to February 2025.

• Nearly 394 million people experienced 30 or more days of risky heat added by climate change during the last three months. Most of these people (74%) live in Africa. Risky heat days are days with temperatures hotter than 90% of the temperatures recorded in a local area from 1991-2020. Heat-related health risks rise when temperatures climb above this local threshold.

• In half of the analyzed countries (110 out of 220), the average person experienced temperatures strongly influenced by climate change for at least one-third of the season (30 days or more).

• In 287 cities, the average person experienced temperatures with a strong influence of climate change one-third of the season (30 days or more).

Data

• Download data for December 1, 2024 to February 28, 2025: Climate Shift Index (CSI) levels for 220 countries, territories and dependencies, and 940 cities around the world

• Explore interactive maps for countries and cities across six continents.

Major funding provided by the Bezos Earth Fund