A new study in Nature Climate Change found that deforestation in tropical regions like India, Brazil, Panama, and Indonesia has intensified local heat. The warming has caused around 28,000 heat-related deaths annually and exposed 300 million people to higher temperatures.

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• Deforestation driving 28,000 heat-related deaths every year
• 300 million people exposed to extreme heat annually
• Data studied from 2000–2020 using satellites, temperature maps
• Forest loss raises surface heat, cuts moisture, boosts greenhouse gases
• Over one-third of heat deaths in major deforested zones linked directly
• Local poor, migrants, outdoor workers most at risk
• Rural healthcare weak, unable to manage heat illness burden
• Deforestation also fuels wildfires, adds pollution and heat
• Researchers warn: deforestation now major public health crisis
• Call for urgent tropical forest protection to save lives