Although it may seem like a distant memory, summer 2024 was Earth’s warmest on record.
In Europe, temperatures were 1.54°C (2.7°F) above the 1991-2020 long term average – triggering dangerously hot conditions for residents.
Now, scientists reveal exactly how many people died due to the heat, which can trigger conditions such as heat exhaustion and heart failure.
In the UK, there were 573 heat-related deaths in summer 2024, according to the experts at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal).
But this figure is small compared with Italy, which had more heat-related deaths in summer last year than any other European country.
The worrying findings, based on data from 539 million people across 32 European countries, suggest the problem of lethal heat in Europe is growing.
The experts warn that Europe is the ‘fastest warming continent’ in the world.
Here, temperatures are rising at around twice the global average rate, causing wildfires, droughts and, extreme weather events and deaths.
This map shows heat-related deaths in the summer of 2024 – with Italy and other Mediterranean regions bearing the brunt
Although it may seem like a distant memory, summer 2024 was Earth’s warmest on record. Pictured, people in deckchairs, Green Park, London, August 12, 2024
According to the findings, there were 62,775 heat-related deaths in Europe during the summer of 2024, a period stretching June 1 and September 30.
These mortality figures are 23.6 per cent higher than the 50,800 deaths estimated for the summer of 2023.
But they’re also 8.1 per cent lower than the nearly 67,900 deaths estimated for the summer of 2022.
In summer 2024, Italy suffered the most deaths due to the heat – 19,038 – thanks to factors such as its Mediterranean climate and ageing population.
No other country in Europe had anywhere near as many heat-related deaths in the summer of 2024, the team found.
‘Italy has a very vulnerable population to heat,’ first study author Tomáš Janoš at ISGlobal told the Daily Mail.
‘Vulnerability to heat is usually predetermined by several factors such as socioeconomic status, health status of population, presence of comorbidities, housing.
‘However, probably the most important one, also for Italy, is age; Italy has the oldest population in the EU.’
No other country in Europe had anywhere near as many heat-related deaths in the summer of 2024 as Italy. Pictured, a man tries to keep cool in Milan, July 16, 2024
Pictured, Rome’s Trevi fountain is crowded with tourists during a period of extreme heat, with temperatures exceeding 36°C/96°F, June 22, 2024
After Italy, the nation with the most heat-related deaths in the period was Spain with 6,743, followed by Germany (6,282), Greece (5,980), Romania (4,943) and Bulgaria (3,414).
Also rounding out the top 10 were Serbia (2,515), France (2,451), Poland (1,780) and Hungary (1,443).
When compared with other countries around Europe, the UK’s contribution to the overall total – 573 deaths – is smaller but not insignificant.
The UK is still at risk of heat-related deaths due to factors such as a large and vulnerable population and inadequate infrastructure.
Unsurprisingly, some of the countries with the fewest deaths that summer are further north with milder climates – Sweden (30) and Norway (18).
Others countries on the list have smaller populations, including Estonia (85 deaths last summer), Latvia (71) and Luxembourg (15).
In their new paper, published in Nature Medicine, the scientists warn that Europe is the continent that is warming most quickly, at twice the global average.
Within Europe, the Mediterranean basin and south-eastern regions have emerged over the last few years as major ‘climate change hotspots’.
Italy and Spain are the European countries with the highest number of heat-related deaths. Pictured, Bogatell beach in Barcelona amid a heatwave, July 31, 2024
Globally, summer 2024 was the hottest on record, according to new data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (CS3)
Italy also had the highest heat-related mortality in the summers of 2023 and 2022, with an estimated 13,800 and 18,800 deaths, respectively.
In the case of Spain, estimated deaths in 2024 were almost half those for 2022, due to lower summer temperatures than in the previous two years.
Researchers also found the number of heat-related deaths was higher among women and older people during the three summers studied (2022, 2023 and 2024).
Specifically, it is estimated that in the summer of 2024, the number of heat-related deaths among women was 46.7 per cent higher than among men.
In people over 75, the estimated mortality rate was 323 per cent higher than in all other age groups.
Overall, the team stress that the more than 181,000 heat-related deaths in Europe during the three summers studied are a warning sign going forward.
‘The magnitude of these figures highlights the need to strengthen adaptation strategies, including the development and implementation of a new generation of continent-wide, impact-based heat-health early warning systems,’ said Joan Ballester Claramunt, principal investigator of the European Research Council (ERC).
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .