Heat wave in Europe kills 1,500 people in 10 days

Europe is reeling under an unprecedented heatwave, and it has touched extremely high temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius and 46 degrees Celsius in late June and early July. And it has caused an alarming death toll of 1,500 people, many of them aged above 65. Europe is not used to these high summer temperatures and it has not experienced this kind of extreme heat at the very beginning of summer.

Summer peaked in Europe in late July and August. Meteorologists are explaining the extreme heat event to the formation of a heat dome over places experiencing peak temperatures in Spain and Portugal because of high pressure. They say the high pressure captures heat near the surface and it does not allow convex clouds to form and lead to rainfall. Europe has been bearing extreme summer temperatures for many years now, though the years of peak temperatures have been in 2003, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023. According to researchers at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, of the 2,300 heat-related deaths, 1,500 were due to climate change. Says Imperial College researcher Ben Clarke, “Climate change has made it significantly hotter than it would have been, which in turn makes it a lot more dangerous.”

The danger aspect of the heatwave is reflected in the death toll in many cities in 12 countries. A study by the two London institutions showed that 317 deaths in Milan were due to climate change, and 182 were not related to climate change, and the numbers for other cities show a similar pattern.

In Paris, 235 deaths were due to climate change and 138 due to other reasons, in Barcelona 286 deaths were due to climate change compared to 54 for other reasons. In Rome, 162 deaths were due to climate change, and 118 for other reasons, and in London it is 171 deaths due to climate change and 92 due to other reasons.

These deaths occurred in a short period of 10 days ending on July 2. The impact of high summer temperatures has a drastic impact in Europe because the temperate climate in the European countries had never experienced these heat extremities. People are not used to the heat as much as they are to the cold waves.

It is a fact that the Europeans have been at the forefront of the climate change battle, they have raised the alarm much before the others, and they have been trying to adopt green technologies and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions.

But it becomes clear that Europe cannot protect itself from the consequences of climate by taking care of itself. Climate change is a global phenomenon. Europeans cannot hope to check the rise in temperatures and reduce CO2 emissions on their own.

All other countries have to be part of the process. European climate negotiators have been playing tough in climate talks, especially with regard to giving financial assistance to developing and least developed countries so that they can buy the green technologies needed to cope with the challenge of climate change. The developed countries of Europe are refusing to share the financial burden of adopting the technologies needed to curb CO2 emissions and control pollution and rising temperatures.

The unfortunate death toll of people in Europe unable to bear the extreme heat is a tragic reminder to the political leaders that they have to share the global burden of fighting climate change. Europe cannot hope to save itself from the disasters of climate change by trying to protect itself alone. It is very clear that Europe cannot remain immune to the depredations of climate change.