People Exposed to Climate Change: North America

December 2024 to February 2025

Temperature anomalies

Nearly all of the countries analyzed across Central and North America (34 out of 37) experienced a warmer-than-normal three-month period.
More than 15 million people in Jamaica, Greenland, Haiti, and Puerto Rico experienced a three-month period that was at least 1°C warmer than the 1991-2020 normal.

Top 10 Countries in North America with the Highest Average Temperature Anomalies

Days with unusual heat made twice as likely by climate change

Nearly 221 million people across Central and North America experienced daily average temperatures that were strongly influenced by climate change (defined as CSI 2 or higher) for at least one-third of the season (30 or more days).
Both Montserrat and Jamaica - collectively home to more than 2.7 million people - saw temperatures made at least twice as likely nearly every single day, topping the charts with 89 days.

Top 10 Countries in North America with the Most Unusual Heat Added by Climate Change

Risky heat days added by climate change

Risky heat days are days with temperatures hotter than 90% of temperatures observed in a local area over the 1991-2020 period. Heat-related health risks rise when temperatures climb above this local threshold. This is a conservative approximation of the local minimum mortality temperature (MMT), an indicator of the local links between temperature and mortality based on peer-reviewed research by Tobias et al. (2021) and Gasparrini et al. (2015).

In North America, risky heat days were limited to countries in the Caribbean and Central America.
El Salvador and Panama - collectively home to more than 10.7 million people - experienced the most risky heat days with 18 and 11 days, respectively.
Across all countries in this region with risky heat days, 100% of them were added by climate change.