European countries recorded more than 10,000 excess deaths during the record heat wave that hit the west of the continent in late June. More than 9,000 of these deaths occurred among people aged 65 and over, according to data published by EuroMOMO, a network supported by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Europe records more than 10,000 deaths from heat wave at the end of June
European countries recorded more than 10,000 excess deaths during the record heat wave that hit the west of the continent in late June. More than 9,000 of these deaths occurred among people aged 65 and over, according...
The data, compiled from national mortality statistics in 27 European countries, included excess deaths from all causes, not just heat-related ones, during the week of June 22-28, when the heat wave peaked in France, Spain, Britain and other nations on the continent. But scientists said there were no other known major factors, such as COVID-19 outbreaks, that could have contributed to the 10,600 excess deaths that week.
"To have this kind of excess [of deaths] at this time of year is unusual. It's really very high," Lasse Vestergaard, chief physician at Denmark's Statens Serum Institut, which hosts EuroMOMO, told Reuters. “It is difficult to explain this high excess mortality for any reason other than extreme heat,” he added.
In the United Kingdom, experts from Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine used meteorological data, climate models and studies on excess mortality during the two heat waves that hit the region in May and June. And they calculated that at least 2,700 people died in England and Wales as a result of high temperatures, report Euronews, Bloomberg, Financial Times, BBC and Independent.
The data starkly illustrates the danger of extreme heat being intensified by the climate crisis, highlights the Guardian. More than 40% of those affected would not have died without the 1.4°C increase in global temperatures, according to the analysis. Temperature rise caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels.
Estimates show the late June heat wave killed about 440 people a day during its three-day peak. By way of comparison, four people die every day as a result of traffic accidents in both countries, and 35 every day due to alcohol and drug consumption, according to government statistics.
The historic heat wave that hit Europe at the end of June would have been unlikely 50 years ago. The difference for the current scenario is climate change, highlighted an attribution study by the global network of climate scientists World Weather Attribution (WWA).
Source:
ClimaInfo
