Batibeniz, FuldenSeneviratne, Sonia I.Jha, SrinidhiRibeiro, AndreiaSuarez Gutierrez, LauraRaible, Christoph C.Malhotra, AvniArmstrong, BenBell, Michelle L.Lavigne, EricGasparrini, AntonioGuo, YumingHashizume, MasahiroMasselot, Pierredas Neves Pereira da Silva, SusanaRoyé, DominicSera, FrancescoTong, ShiluUrban, AlešVicedo-Cabrera, Ana M.2025-07-012025-07-012025-01-06Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 6;15(1):1002. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-82788-82045-2322http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/10522The impacts of climate change on human health are often underestimated or perceived to be in a distant future. Here, we present the projected impacts of climate change in the context of COVID-19, a recent human health catastrophe. We compared projected heat mortality with COVID-19 deaths in 38 cities worldwide and found that in half of these cities, heat-related deaths could exceed annual COVID-19 deaths in less than ten years (at + 3.0 °C increase in global warming relative to preindustrial). In seven of these cities, heat mortality could exceed COVID-19 deaths in less than five years. Our results underscore the crucial need for climate action and for the integration of climate change into public health discourse and policy.engMCCMortalityCOVID-19HeatClimate ChangeClimate SciencesDeterminantes da Saúde e da Doençajournal article10.1038/s41598-024-82788-839762298