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More than 61,000 people died from extreme heat waves that swept across Europe last year, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine. The findings suggest that two decades of efforts in Europe to adapt to a hotter world have failed to keep pace with the pace of global warming. “In an ideal society, no one should die from the heat,” said Joan Pallister, a research professor at the University of California Barcelona Institute for Global Health The lead author of the study.
This summer is likely to be even worse: On top of climate change, Earth entered a normal El Nino weather pattern during the summer for the first time in four years, creating conditions that will warm many parts of the world. The season has already started breaking various global temperature records. Researchers who studied last year’s heatwaves used data collected by the European Union from 35 countries, including some non-member states.
Most of the dead were women, especially those over 80 years of age. Among young men, men died at higher rates. The Mediterranean countries, where the temperatures were highest at the time, suffered the most: Italy, Spain and Portugal had the highest rates of heat-related deaths.
Pallister said extreme temperatures were expected that summer based on how warming the planet has been overall in the past decade. When temperatures rose, many European governments had “heat action plans” ready, developed in response to an unexpected and more deadly heat wave in 2003, but these modifications were not enough to prevent mass casualties, he said. He added that as the climate continues to change, the world can expect more and more deaths due to extreme heat.
This summer is likely to be even worse: On top of climate change, Earth entered a normal El Nino weather pattern during the summer for the first time in four years, creating conditions that will warm many parts of the world. The season has already started breaking various global temperature records. Researchers who studied last year’s heatwaves used data collected by the European Union from 35 countries, including some non-member states.
Most of the dead were women, especially those over 80 years of age. Among young men, men died at higher rates. The Mediterranean countries, where the temperatures were highest at the time, suffered the most: Italy, Spain and Portugal had the highest rates of heat-related deaths.
Pallister said extreme temperatures were expected that summer based on how warming the planet has been overall in the past decade. When temperatures rose, many European governments had “heat action plans” ready, developed in response to an unexpected and more deadly heat wave in 2003, but these modifications were not enough to prevent mass casualties, he said. He added that as the climate continues to change, the world can expect more and more deaths due to extreme heat.
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