Map showing temperatures around the world and numbers of people killed by heatwaves, 4 July 2023. Data: Zoom Earth. Graphic: Anadolu Agency / Getty
Map showing temperatures around the world and numbers of people killed by heatwaves, 4 July 2023. Data: Zoom Earth. Graphic: Anadolu Agency / Getty

By Katherine Fidler
5 July 2023

(Metro) – A striking map [by Anadolu Agency –Des] shows how soaring temperatures are affecting people around the world – 48 hours after the world recorded its hottest-ever day.

Using June as a snapshot, the infographic highlights just some of the regions struck by intense heat – including the UK, which did not escape the rising temperatures.

Last month was the country’s hottest June on record, with the average temperature of 15.8C almost a full degree warmer than the previous high of 14.9C, recorded in 1940 and 1976. 

In China, multiple cities set new records as the temperature passed 40C, while in Spain the mercury hit 44C – having almost reached 40C during a spring heatwave in April.

The heat has had serious consequences in a number of countries, including India, where more than 160 people died in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar due to unseasonably high temperatures. 

In neighbouring Pakistan at least 22 people died during an intense heatwave, while in Mexico more than 110 people have died due to heat-related causes so far in 2023.

Heat-related deaths happen every year. A 20-year study published in 2021 revealed that extreme temperatures – both heat and cold – killed more than 5 million people globally every year.

The study found more people died from cold exposure than heat, but over the study period, heat-related deaths increased, while cold-related deaths decreased.

Researchers collected data from 750 locations in 43 countries between 2000 and 2019, and found the average daily temperature increased by 0.26C per decade.

On Monday, the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction reported the world had witnessed its hottest day on record, with an average global temperature of 17.01C. The previous record was 16.92C, set in August 2016.

Scientists believe a strengthening El Niño event, which typically warms the world, in combination with human made climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions, is causing the soaring temperatures.

Striking map charts deadly heatwaves killing people around the world