Australia is experiencing a significant rise in the number of extreme heat days that pose serious health risks to pregnant women, according to new findings by international climate research organization Climate Central.
The analysis reveals that climate change has contributed to an additional 10 days of extreme heat annually in Australia—conditions deemed hazardous for pregnancy. Darwin recorded the most severe increase, with 17 more heat-risk days per year, the highest among all Australian cities included in the study.
These heat-risk days are identified based on temperatures that exceed 95 percent of typical seasonal highs—thresholds linked to elevated risks of preterm birth, stillbirth, hypertension, and gestational diabetes, as documented by the World Health Organization.
Dr. Kristina Dahl, Vice President for Science at Climate Central, emphasized the growing impact of climate change on maternal health. “Climate change added more than half of the pregnancy heat-risk days Australians experienced in the past five years,” Dr. Dahl said. “That means climate change is already making it harder to have a healthy pregnancy, especially in regions where care may be limited.”
The global study examined data from more than 240 countries and territories, comparing actual extreme heat days with a model that estimated how many such days would have occurred without human-induced climate change.
The results were stark: every country saw an increase in pregnancy heat-risk days from 2020 to 2024. For nearly one-third of nations, human-caused climate change extended the risk period by an additional month each year.
The most pronounced increases were observed in developing countries, where inadequate healthcare and limited access to cooling infrastructure, such as air-conditioning, exacerbate the dangers of extreme heat.
The study underscores the urgent need for climate action and health system preparedness to protect vulnerable populations, particularly pregnant individuals, from escalating heat-related risks.
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