Deadliest climate disasters of 2025 revealed as experts warn women and the poorest ‘hit the hardest’

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🗞️ Driving the news: Women are bearing a disproportionate share of the world’s deadliest extreme weather impacts, according to a new report from World Weather Attribution, which links fossil fuel emissions to intensifying heat, floods, and storms worldwide

🔭 The context: Climate extremes are becoming deadlier — and more unequal
• The report analyses 22 climate-fuelled disasters over the past year across every continent
• Extreme heat emerged as one of the deadliest hazards, described as a “silent killer”
• Although 2025 did not surpass 2024’s global heat record, rising temperatures continue to amplify health risks
• Human-driven climate change is transforming once-rare heatwaves into frequent events

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Climate change is amplifying gender and global inequality
• Women face higher exposure to extreme heat due to roles in agriculture, street vending, and unpaid care work
• In South Sudan, a 2025 heatwave — made 4°C hotter by climate change — disproportionately affected women lacking access to cooling, electricity, and clean water
• Extreme heat disrupts education, increasing risks of learning loss and early marriage for girls
• Inequality extends into climate science itself, as data gaps in the Global South limit attribution studies and visibility of impacts

⏭️ What’s next: Urgency beyond adaptation
• WWA calls for an urgent transition away from fossil fuels, which drive the majority of global emissions
• Adaptation alone is increasingly insufficient, especially for vulnerable regions such as small island states
• Rapid emissions cuts, alongside targeted adaptation and better data collection, are needed to reduce unequal climate harms

📈 One stat: Extreme heat in Europe is estimated to have caused more than 24,000 deaths in a single summer, with many fatalities likely unrecorded

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