A heatwave that swept across Western Europe from late June to early July is estimated to have resulted in the deaths of approximately 2,300 people in 12 major European cities according to a rapid attribution study conducted by Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
Researchers attribute two-thirds of these deaths to climate change.
For the past two weeks, a heatwave has affected large parts of Europe, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in some areas. Researchers’ calculations suggest approximately 2,300 heat-related deaths occurred during this period. In a world without climate change, they estimate only 800 deaths would have occurred, indicating that nearly two-thirds (or 1,500) of these deaths are attributable to climate change.
People over 65 are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat, with almost nine out of ten deaths occurring in this age group.
It is important to consider these figures as expected deaths. Heat is often referred to as “the silent killer” because it is rarely explicitly recorded as a cause of death, and official statistics are often published months later.
The study suggests that climate change could lead to future temperature rises of up to 4 degrees Celsius in cities.
The impact of climate change is expected to increase as long as greenhouse gases continue to be emitted.
The 12 cities included in the study were London, Paris, Frankfurt, Budapest, Zagreb, Athens, Rome, Milan, Sassari (Sardinia), Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon.
