IMAGE: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE VIA GETTY IMAGES

By Becky Ferreira • July 7, 2021

Some five million people die every year from exposure to abnormally hot or cold temperatures related to climate change, a number that accounts for about 9.43 percent of global deaths, according to a first-of-its-kind study. 

Heat-related deaths are increasing across the world due to human-driven climate change, even as net mortality rates are dropping as a result of decreases in cold-related deaths, which are far more deadly, reports the study, which was published on Wednesday in The Lancet Planetary Health. 

While previous research has assessed the impact of high and low temperatures on global death rates, the new paper tracked these trends specifically across the 21st century, a period that has experienced temperature increases of 0.26°C per decade due to human-driven climate change. 

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