Big Take: How hot is too hot? The latest science on extreme heat
Zero: The Climate Race
Bloomberg
4.7 • 219 Ratings
🗓️ 2 September 2025
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Nearly half a million people die every year as a result of extreme heat. That’s more than the total from hurricanes, earthquakes and floods combined. And as the planet warms, the risk of deadly heat is increasing.
On Bloomberg's Big Take podcast, climate reporter Zahra Hirji brings Sarah Holder a dispatch from a lab at the forefront of understanding how heat affects the human body. They break down the latest science on deadly heat, why everyone is at more risk than they realize — and what actually works to mitigate those risks.
Read more:
- Scientist Shuts Himself in 104F Chamber in Quest to Study Heat Stress
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, it's Akshad. In the northern hemisphere, summer is coming to a close, and it's leaving |
| 0:08.9 | behind a spate of grim climate headlines. There have been not just record-breaking temperatures, |
| 0:15.5 | but also deadly heat waves. In Europe, Japan, Pakistan, and even the US. On our sister podcast, The Big Take, |
| 0:23.7 | my colleagues Zara Hirji and Aaron Clark looked at what researchers are doing to make people safer |
| 0:29.7 | at home and at work, even as heat waves continue to grow in number and become more extreme. |
| 0:37.6 | Take a listen and Zero will be back later this week. |
| 0:42.4 | Zara Hirji covers climate at Bloomberg, and she recently had the opportunity to take a trip |
| 0:48.0 | to one of the hottest places in the world. |
| 0:50.9 | I took an elevator and upstairs in a university building, the elevator comes out in a world. I took an elevator and upstairs in a university building. |
| 0:56.5 | The elevator comes out in a corner. |
| 0:58.7 | And if you turn left... |
| 1:00.5 | In Canada, there's this long, tall hallway. |
| 1:04.1 | And all along that hallway is one of the world's largest research facilities |
| 1:08.2 | dedicated to studying the effects of heat on the human body. |
| 1:12.6 | And we kind of just spent the day walking through, opening door number one, door number two, door number three. |
| 1:18.4 | Behind each one, there were people doing all kinds of tests. |
| 1:22.6 | How's that feel? |
| 1:24.0 | Oh, it's okay? |
| 1:25.6 | Yeah, I know. |
| 1:26.6 | People like Janet Spencer. |
| 1:29.5 | She's 75 years old. |
| 1:31.7 | She describes herself as a veteran of the lab. |
... |
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