Extreme heat risks to pregnancy driven by climate change: Africa
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 2020 to 2024, around one-quarter of analyzed countries in Africa (16 out of 62) experienced at least one additional months’ worth of pregnancy heat-risk days on average each year due to climate change. These countries include: Liberia (47 days); Mayotte (46); and Seychelles (45).
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In nearly all African countries (60 out of 62), climate change at least doubled the average annual number of pregnancy heat-risk days, compared to a world without climate change.
Explore data for countries and cities across Africa in the interactive maps below.
Countries 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).