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Advancing a new generation of heat-health warning system in China

Nature Medicine (2026)Cite this article

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In recent years, relentless heatwaves have swept across the globe, with 2014–2024 constituting the Earth’s hottest decade and global temperature records being consecutively broken in 2023 and 2024 (ref. 1). In 2025, our planet has continued to endure an unprecedented ‘scorching assault.’ Prolonged heatwaves have ravaged regions worldwide, including Western Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, resulting in temperatures soaring far above historical averages and shattering previous intensity, duration and spatial benchmarks.

Public and government response was visible: within the first week of release, the warnings amassed over 1.8 billion views, with one notably reaching third place on Weibo’s real-time trending list (one of China’s most influential social platforms). In response, many cities implemented practical measures, including opening public cooling centers, adjusting work and school schedules, and setting up dedicated emergency channels for heatstroke treatment. Public awareness campaigns focused on vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, outdoor workers and individuals with chronic diseases, to promote heat-health protection.

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Fig. 1: Advancing a new generation of heat-health warning system in China.

References

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82425051), and the National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases grant (2024NITFID601).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

    Tiantian Li, Runmei Ma, Qing Wang & Xiaoming Shi

  2. China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

    Tiantian Li, Runmei Ma, Qing Wang, Lin Wang & Xiaoming Shi

  3. CMA Key Laboratory of Meteorological Medicine and Health, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

    Tiantian Li, Qing Wang & Lin Wang

  4. Huafeng Meteorological Media Group, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, China

    Taiyuan Zhang

  5. Public Meteorological Service Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, China

    Hui Chen

  6. National Center for Chronic and Noncommunicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

    Hongbing Shen

  7. School of Public Health, Center for Global Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China

    Hongbing Shen

Authors
  1. Tiantian Li
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  2. Runmei Ma
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  3. Qing Wang
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  4. Taiyuan Zhang
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  6. Lin Wang
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Correspondence to Tiantian Li or Hongbing Shen.

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Li, T., Ma, R., Wang, Q. et al. Advancing a new generation of heat-health warning system in China. Nat Med (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-026-04240-w

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