Climate change added 13 risky heat days in PHL

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

A new analysis from Climate Central revealed that the average person in the Philippines experienced 44 days of temperatures strongly influenced by climate change between June and August 2025.

These conditions, measured at Climate Shift Index (CSI) level 2 or higher, indicate temperatures made at least twice as likely by human-caused warming.

The Philippines recorded a seasonal temperature anomaly of 0.2°C above the 1991–2020 baseline.

Residents endured 15 risky heat days—temperatures above the local 90th percentile where health risks rise—with 13 of those days directly linked to climate change.

City-level data showed severe impacts, with Davao residents experiencing 74 days at CSI 2+ and Zamboanga City residents enduring 62 such days.

The Philippines also faced deadly flooding from Tropical Storm Wutip and Typhoons Podul, Danas, and Wipha during the same period.

Globally, at least 1.8 billion people—one in five—experienced daily temperatures strongly influenced by climate change throughout the season.

On July 19, August 10, and August 12, exposure peaked when about 4.1 billion people, or half the world’s population, felt the impact of climate-driven heat.

In 183 countries, representing more than three-quarters of those analyzed, the average person endured at least 30 days of unusually warm conditions caused by climate change.

Risky heat days were a central measure in the analysis, defined as days hotter than 90 percent of local temperatures recorded between 1991 and 2020.

Nearly 955 million people worldwide experienced 30 or more added risky heat days, with Asia accounting for 64 percent of those affected.

On average, people globally endured 27 risky heat days, with 17 of those days directly attributable to climate change.

Countries across Asia, Europe, and North America bore the brunt of the added heat, while cities in Europe and Asia topped the list for the most unusual temperatures.

In the U.S., 32 cities, mostly in the southern and western states, faced at least 30 additional risky heat days linked to climate change.

The extreme heat coincided with destructive weather events across the world.

Europe saw its worst wildfire season on record, burning more than 1 million hectares, while Canada endured its second-worst, sending smoke plumes as far as Europe and the U.S.

Climate change-driven storms brought catastrophic floods, including one in central Texas that killed more than 130 people, and deadly rainfall events in China, India, Pakistan, South Africa, and Nigeria.

Heat waves forced the closure of more than 1,350 schools in France and restrictions on outdoor work in Italy, while scientists estimate 2,300 deaths across 12 European cities, with 1,500 attributable to climate change.

In Japan, more than 10,000 people were hospitalized for heat-related illness, while in Arizona’s Maricopa County, public health officials reported more than 400 deaths from extreme heat this season alone.

“The impacts of climate change are incontrovertible,” said Dr. Kristina Dahl, vice president for science at Climate Central.

“Every delay in reducing emissions means more communities, ecosystems, and economies will suffer,” she added.