Extreme heat risks to pregnancy driven by climate change: Mexico
2020 to 2024
We counted the number of days with temperatures warmer than 95% of temperatures observed at a given location (also referred to as temperatures above the 95th percentile) — a threshold which research1 shows can bring increased risk of preterm birth. We define these extremely hot days as “pregnancy heat-risk days.”
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During the past five years, Mexico experienced an average of 21 additional pregnancy heat-risk days each year.
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Climate change accounted for 70% of the average annual number of pregnancy heat-risk days in Mexico during 2020 to 2024 (21 of 30 days).
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In Mexico City, 36 out of 42 pregnancy heat-risk days were added by climate change. Meaning, climate change accounted for 86% of the pregnancy heat-risk days experienced on average annually during 2020 to 2024.
Explore data for states and cities across Mexico in the interactive maps below.
States with the most pregnancy heat-risk days added by climate change
Cities with the most pregnancy heat-risk days added by climate change
1We chose this percentile based on peer-reviewed research from Kuehn et al. (2017), Wang et al. (2013), Wang et al. (2024), and McElroy et al. (2022).