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Health15 outlets ran this4 min read

Lancet report: 710,000 heat deaths in 2023 linked to climate change

Experts call for climate change to be declared a global health emergency as heat-related fatalities rise.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Lancet report: 710,000 heat deaths in 2023 linked to climate change

What this story says

  • A Lancet Countdown report states 710,000 heat-related deaths occurred worldwide in 2023.
  • Over 70% of these deaths were linked to human-caused climate change, according to the report.
  • Heat caused nearly 3 million deaths between 2016 and 2023, with a 68% increase in heat-related fatalities over that period.
  • Researchers are calling for climate change to be declared a global health emergency.

Who covered it

Left 30%(3)Centre 30%(3)Right 40%(4)

Percentages are shares of the 10 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 5 of the 15 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

86/100

Craft

95/100

Hype

30/100

15 sources · methodology

A report from the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change indicates that 710,000 heat-related deaths occurred globally in 2023. The study, involving nearly 150 researchers from over 30 countries, links more than 70% of these fatalities to human-caused climate change. Between 2016 and 2023, heat was responsible for approximately three million deaths, marking a 68% increase in heat-related fatalities during that period.

The findings highlight an acceleration of climate-related health harms, with experts urging that climate change be formally declared a global health emergency. This declaration, they argue, would place health at the centre of climate policies and funding priorities. The report also notes that the area affected by extreme drought has grown significantly, threatening food and water supplies and increasing disease risk. Economic losses from working in extreme heat are also mounting, disproportionately affecting vulnerable economies.

Disagreement on specific figures

While the Lancet Countdown report states that 710,000 heat-related deaths occurred in 2023, Deutsche Welle reported that climate change was responsible for more than half a million heat deaths in 2023. The Independent (US) reported that extreme heat contributed to a record 710,000 fatalities in 2023, with researchers attributing over 70 per cent directly to man-made warming.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated digests mention the estimated $1.07 trillion in lost potential income due to extreme heat in 2023, a figure reported by Deutsche Welle. The right-rated digests also do not mention the specific call for a new WHO instrument to coordinate global responses, which was detailed in the Deutsche Welle report.

Tags:#ClimateChange#GlobalHealth#HeatDeaths#PublicHealth#LancetCountdown

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 28 Oct 2026, 02:00, and will add the sides that appear.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Heatwaves led to wildfires across Europe this summer (AFP/Getty)
The Independent (US)Left

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

3 rated outlets

  • The left-rated reports led with the call for climate change to be declared a global health emergency. The Independent (US) and The Independent highlighted that experts are demanding this declaration due to escalating climate harms and a surge in heat-related deaths. ABC News also reported that the harms are accelerating and warned that climate change is a global health emergency. All three left-rated reports mentioned the 710,000 heat-related fatalities in 2023 and the link to human-caused warming. The Independent (US) also detailed the study's monitoring of 54 indicators and quoted Professor Marina Romanello stating that health harms are growing faster than the world's response.

Centre

3 rated outlets

  • Deutsche Welle's report focused on the call for a 'global health emergency' due to accelerating climate harms and heat deaths. It highlighted that climate change was responsible for more than half a million heat deaths in 2023 and nearly 3 million since 2016. The report also noted the economic toll, with heat costing the world an estimated $1.07 trillion in lost potential income last year, and detailed the researchers' call for a new WHO instrument to coordinate global responses.

Right

4 rated outlets

  • The right-rated reports, Free Malaysia Today News and The Straits Times, both led with the call for climate change to be declared a 'global health emergency' based on the Lancet study. Both digests stated that a record 710,000 people died from heat-related causes in 2023, with more than 70% linked to human-caused climate change. The Straits Times digest also noted that heat caused three million deaths between 2016 and 2023.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Lancet report: 710,000 heat deaths in 2023 linked to climate change?
Of the 10 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 30% are rated left, 30% are rated centre, 40% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 15. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Lancet report: 710,000 heat deaths in 2023 linked to climate change left or right?
Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 10 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
Is the coverage of Lancet report: 710,000 heat deaths in 2023 linked to climate change biased?
Lancet report: 710,000 heat deaths in 2023 linked to climate change is one event reported by 15 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which outlets covered Lancet report: 710,000 heat deaths in 2023 linked to climate change?
15 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
How many heat-related deaths occurred in 2023?
The Lancet Countdown report states that 710,000 heat-related deaths occurred worldwide in 2023. Over 70% of these fatalities were linked to human-caused climate change, according to the researchers.
What is the overall trend in heat-related deaths since 2016?
Heat caused approximately three million deaths between 2016 and 2023. This represents a significant increase, with heat-related deaths rising by 68% over that seven-year period.
What are experts calling for in response to climate change's health impacts?
Experts are urging that climate change be formally declared a global health emergency. They believe this designation would ensure that health considerations are central to climate policies and funding priorities for climate prevention.

Read it at the source

15 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

3

Centre

3

Right

4

Not rated

5

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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