UNITED NATIONS, July 25 -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for global action to tackle extreme heat, as "extreme temperatures are no longer a one day, one week or one month phenomenon."

"Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, everywhere," Guterres said in remarks to the press on extreme heat.

Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic -- wilting under increasingly deadly heatwaves, with temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius around the world, said the UN chief. "That's ... halfway to boiling."

Highlighting the impact of extreme temperatures, Guterres noted a deadly heatwave hitting the Sahel with spiking hospitalizations and deaths, broken temperature records across the United States, scorching conditions killing 1,300 pilgrims during Haj, tourist attractions shut down in Europe's sweatbox cities, and schools closures across Asia and Africa impacting more than 80 million children.

"Extreme heat is increasingly tearing through economies, widening inequalities, undermining the Sustainable Development Goals and killing people," he said.

According to the UN chief, heat is estimated to kill almost half a million people a year, that's about 30 times more than tropical cyclones.

"But the good news is that there are solutions," added Guterres.

  - Xinhua