A new report by the Climate Central, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, and World Weather Attribution, titled “Climate Change and the Escalation of Global Extreme Heat: Assessing and Addressing the Risks”, examines extreme heat events that occurred globally from May 2024 to May 2025. It explores how climate change influences these events and offeres strategies to prevent heat-related deaths. The report defined extreme heat days as days that were warmer than 90% of the days recorded at each location in the period from 1991 to 2020.
Turkmenistan experienced 59 extreme heat days between May 2024 and May 2025, with 32 of them attributed to climate change. On some of these days, temperatures rose as much as 10°C above average.
Global average temperature records are being broken year after year, with 2024 marking the first time the global average temperature was 1.5°C higher than the long-term pre-industrial average. As the average temperature rises, more days become hotter than what was typical in the past. This report compares the actual number of extreme heat days in the past year with the number that would have occurred if global temperatures had remained at historical levels. This method shows how many of those hot days were driven by climate change.
- 4 billion people experienced 30 or more additional days of extreme heat, caused by climate change;
- In 194 countries, there were two times more extreme heat days than would have been without climate change;
- 67 extreme heat events that were identified in those 12 months were all caused by climate change;
- In Turkmenistan, the number of extreme heat days was 59 over May 2024-May 2025. Of these, 32 were caused by climate change, meaning that in a world without global warming, only 27 extreme heat days would have occurred.
The detailed data sheets available with the report list all extreme heat events with the countries that were affected. In one year, Turkmenistan had a number of of heat events:
- October 1-6, 2024. The extreme heatwave took place across Iran, Iran, and Central Asia, including Turkmenistan. The event was estimated to be 5 times more likely due to climate change and the average temperature was 2.2°C higher.
- November 3-8, 2024. A heatwave hit across a wide area covering many parts of Asia, including Turkmenistan. Climate change made this event 5 times more likely, with temperatures 1.8°C higher that would have been otherwise.
- March 19-24, 2025. A heat wave across entire Central Asia was 3 times more likely, with average temperatures 5°C higher. In some places, temperatures were 10°C warmer due to climate change.
The report stresses that the true toll of extreme heat on human health is often underestimated, especially in low and middle-income countries. Heat-related deaths are often recorded under other conditions such as cardiovascular or pulmonary diseases, overlooking heat as a contributing factor.
Vulnerable groups such as older adults, people with chronic diseases, pregnant people, low income and marginalized communities, and outdoor workers, are at greatest risk.
Extreme heat also affects agriculture, water supply, critical infrastructure such as healthcare systems and energy infrastructure.
Key challenges and what can be done
Key challenges in adapting to extreme heat events include lack of accepted definition of heatwave, which makes it difficult to collect consistent data and develop early warning systems. Lack of public awareness about the health risks is another challenge.
The report outlines actions that governments and communities can take. These include: expansion of heat-health early warning systems, improving emergency healthcare response, reinforcing water, electricity, and transport infrastructure, and creating legislation to support heat-resilient urban design. Finally, the report emphasizes that adaptation alone is not enough. To limit future extreme heat, the root cause must be addressed and fossil fuels must be phased out in order to limit the rising temperatures.
