June Heatwave Hit 42% of U.S. Businesses, Testing Climate Resilience at Scale

Dun & Bradstreet data reveals risk across critical sectors, underscoring the economic toll of extreme heat 

Extreme heat is more than a health hazard—it’s also a disruptive business risk. 

A Dun & Bradstreet analysis of businesses in the path of June's record-breaking heat wave across parts of the U.S. East Coast and Midwest shows a substantial threat to operations. According to D&B Climate Risk Insights, 42% of all U.S. businesses were in areas impacted by moderate or severe heat alerts, while 22% of U.S. businesses faced extreme heat warnings or watches, representing nearly 11 million businesses at risk. Impacts can include higher operational and maintenance costs, reduced productivity and the potential for commercial disruption. In 2024, the Federation of American Scientists estimated the cumulative economic toll of extreme heat cost the U.S. economy more than $162 billion — equivalent to nearly 1% of the nation’s GDP.  

“Companies need to be prepared in advance to really understand where their risks lie,” said Jason Lindauer, Senior Director of ESG and Climate Risk Products at Dun & Bradstreet. 

A World Economic Forum (WEF) analysis identified extreme heat as a major source of business risk, representing about 73% of projected climate-related losses to fixed corporate assets over the next decade—more than flooding, drought, wildfires and hurricanes combined.   

Dun & Bradstreet data shows 14% of U.S. crop-producing businesses were exposed to the worst of the heatwave, threatening lower yields and higher irrigation costs. At the same time, 23% of communications companies faced dangerously high temperatures, which can also strain heat-sensitive data centers and other telecommunications network infrastructure. In the construction sector, 28% of general contractors were subjected to conditions that could threaten worker health and delay projects. In total, the Dun & Bradstreet analysis identified more than half a million businesses across these industries exposed to the risks of extreme heat. More than 140,000 of all businesses impacted by the moderate or severe alerts were already at high risk of business failure before the heatwave and could now be under more stress.  

There are steps businesses can take to mitigate heat-related impacts, such as improving building energy efficiency, diversifying supply chains and allowing flexible work schedules. But first, leaders need to understand the scope of their risks—and as climate change accelerates the frequency and severity of severe weather events, they are increasingly turning to data-driven tools like D&B Climate Risk Insights to proactively identify and manage emerging threats.  

“Companies need to understand the impacts of climate risk not only on their own operations, but also on their supply chains,” Lindauer said. 

D&B Climate Risk Insights combines Dun & Bradstreet’s financial and firmographic data on hundreds of millions of public and private businesses worldwide with geo-spatial satellite imagery and longer-term scientific models to identify climate-related risks and economic impacts on more than 250 million global business locations. This solution contextualizes the risks of business impacts from hurricanes, floods, wildfires, extreme temperatures, sea level rise and more to provide indicators on historical, current, short-term and long-term risk.  

“What sets D&B Climate Risk Insights apart from other climate risk products is the granularity of data it includes on corporate locations, impacts and climate scenarios,” Lindauer said. 

For supply chain climate risk evaluations, companies are often concerned with potential near-term impacts that may require mitigation strategies, while others seek long-term evaluations.  

“Insurers and banks are required by regulators to conduct climate stress testing to assess the potential impacts on their portfolios — whether in credit or insurance underwriting.  This helps them understand the specific risks they face and how their portfolios might perform under various climate scenarios in the coming decades,” Lindauer said.  

While Lindauer says businesses could be doing more to address climate risks, the number of companies disclosing climate risk information is growing. In fiscal year 2023, 82% of companies released information aligned with at least one of the recommended disclosures by the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), while 44% of companies shared at least five.    

According to Lindauer, investors in publicly-traded, as well as private equity-owned enterprises, often demand climate-related data — at least in part, to protect their assets. 

“They are being pushed to do it, but they realize it's also beneficial for the company because increased adaptation and resilience will lead to lower costs”, he said.  

But companies need to do more than report climate risk data — they need to act on it.  

Businesses can mitigate climate-related impacts before disruption strikes by leveraging predictive analytics and recovery probability modeling. This data-driven approach can help them make informed decisions to protect assets, shift supply chains and bolster resilience before they’re faced with acute disaster — or the less obvious but potentially more costly threat of extreme heat.