Scientists have found that human-driven climate change made recent heatwaves in Europe as much as 4°C hotter in various cities, pushing temperatures into dangerous ranges for thousands of vulnerable individuals, reports RTE.
A swift study by more than a dozen experts from five European institutions concluded that the number of heat-related deaths likely increased significantly because of global warming.
From late June to early July, temperatures surged past 40°C in several European countries, as the season’s first major heatwave shattered records and sparked health alerts, reports RTE.
According to the EU’s climate monitoring agency Copernicus, western Europe experienced its hottest June ever, leading to the closure of some schools and tourist attractions as temperatures soared.
To determine climate change’s influence, scientists compared how intense the heatwave would have been in a pre-industrial climate unaffected by the large-scale burning of fossil fuels, reports RTE.
By analyzing historical climate data, they found the heatwave “would have been 2-4C cooler” in all but one of the 12 cities examined, if not for human-caused climate change.
Those extra degrees significantly increased risk levels in the cities studied—which include large capitals like Paris, London, and Madrid—and together are home to more than 30 million people, reports RTE.
“What that does is it brings certain groups of people into more dangerous territory,” said researcher Ben Clarke from Imperial College London, one of the co-leaders of the study with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. For some people it’s still warm, fine weather. But for now a huge sector of the population, it’s more dangerous,” he said, reports RTE.
In a first, the study also attempted to estimate the number of deaths caused by the heatwave in those 12 cities—and how many could be linked specifically to climate change.
Using peer-reviewed techniques and existing research on heat and mortality, the team estimated that between June 23 and July 2, the heatwave caused about 2,300 deaths across the cities analyzed, reports RTE.
Researchers said that roughly 1,500 of those deaths—nearly two-thirds—would likely not have happened without climate change driving temperatures to such hazardous extremes.
The team, which includes scientists from the UK, Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland, emphasized that the figure is only a partial look at the broader heatwave, since no official count has yet been released, reports RTE.
Heatwaves pose the greatest risk to older adults, the ill, young children, those working outdoors, and anyone exposed to high temperatures for extended periods without relief.
Health risks are intensified in cities, where paved surfaces and buildings trap heat, making urban environments significantly warmer than nearby rural areas, reports RTE.
Copernicus reported that many parts of southern Europe experienced “tropical nights” during the heatwave, where overnight temperatures stayed too high for people’s bodies to properly recover.
“An increase in heatwave temperature of just two or four degrees can mean the difference between life and death for thousands of people,” said Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, a lecturer at Imperial College London, reports RTE.
“This is why heatwaves are known as silent killers. Most heat-related deaths occur in homes and hospitals out of public view and are rarely reported,” he told reporters.
Authorities say a final death count from the heatwave may take weeks to compile, but similar events have previously claimed tens of thousands of lives in Europe during past summers, reports RTE.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
