Telling Numbers: The worsening impact of climate change, as found in new Lancet report

People across the world are facing record-breaking threats to their wellbeing, health, and survival from climate change, which has raised temperatures to dangerous new heights, a new report from Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change has revealed. The report showcases the work of 122 leading researchers from UN agencies, including the World Health Organisation, and academic institutions worldwide. According to the report:

48% of the world’s land area faced extreme drought conditions last year.

151 million more people would be experiencing food insecurity due to such extreme weather events, compared with the years 1981-2010.

60% of lands were affected last year by extreme rainfall which unleashed floods and raised risks from water contamination or infectious disease.

512 billion potential labour hours, worth $835 billion in potential income, were lost due to extreme heat in 2023.

Last year, heat exposure put people engaging in outdoor physical activity at risk of heat stress (moderate or higher) for a record high of 27.7% more hours than on average in the 1990s.

The average person experienced 50 more days of dangerous temperatures in 2023, the hottest year on record, than they would have without climate change.

The number of heat-related deaths in people over 65 last year reached a level 167% above the number in the 1990s. Without climate change, researchers would have expected the figure to rise by 65% from the 1990s.

The hotter and drier weather conditions contributed to a 31% increase in the number of people exposed to dangerously high particulate matter concentrations between 2003–07 and 2018–22.

The average annual economic losses from weather-related extreme events increased by 23% from 2010–14 to 2019–23, to $227 billion.