Climate change triples heat-related deaths among Europeans

Climate change has nearly tripled the number of heat-related deaths in major European cities during the extreme heatwave from late June to early July, according to a new study.

Researchers from the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Switzerland analyzed conditions in 12 major European cities between June 23 and July 2.

They estimate that about 2,300 people died from heat-related causes during this 10-day period, with around two-thirds of these deaths—approximately 1,500—attributed to climate change.

Temperatures in many cities rose to extreme levels during that time, often exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.

Without global warming, which the study says increased daytime city temperatures by an additional 1.0 to 4.0 degrees Celsius, around 800 people would have died from the heat, according to the team’s calculations.

For their analysis, the team compared the actual recorded temperatures during the period with modeled values that would have occurred without climate change.

They then calculated the expected number of heat-related deaths for both scenarios.

The recent heatwave particularly affected vulnerable groups, such as people with pre-existing conditions and the elderly.

According to the team, 88% of the estimated deaths occurred among people over the age of 65.

“KORÇA BOOM”