The annual number of preventable heat-related deaths globally has soared to more than half a million, a UCL-led report says. The ninth annual Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report reveals that the continued overreliance on fossil fuels and failure to adapt to climate change is being paid in people’s lives, health and livelihoods. It reveals that heat-related mortality per 100,000 has risen 23 per cent since the 1990s, with total heat-related deaths reaching an average of 546,000