France saw around 1,000 additional deaths last week at the height of its record-smashing heat wave, the country’s public health agency said Sunday. The head of the World Health Organization warned that Europe is now the fastest-warming continent and needs to do more to protect its citizens.
Heat Wave Impacts
Temperature records were toppled in several countries on the weekend, wildfires were sparked in Germany and Berlin police used water cannons to cool down the crowds. The heat wave slowly moved toward eastern parts of the continent.
A new study from the World Weather Attribution, a Europe-based collaboration of scientists, reported Friday that the record-breaking heat and humidity in Europe this past week would not have been possible without climate change.
The rapid study found that the heat would have been virtually impossible just five decades ago, and is 200 times more likely today than it would have been 20 years ago.
France’s Death Toll
France reported a surge in deaths last week, including a sharp increase at private homes, especially in the Paris region, the national public health agency said Sunday. There were more than 1,200 deaths on Wednesday, when France was sweltering under its hottest temperatures, increasing to more than 1,400 deaths on each of the two following days.
Public Health France said the agency concluded that France experienced a total of at least 1,000 additional deaths during those three days alone, an estimate it cautioned is likely to increase as more data is collected, including for deaths at home.
The increase was sharpest in areas under red warnings of extreme heat, it said. Those warnings blanketed about three-quarters of the country at the peak of the heat wave. The agency said that 85% of the deaths involved people aged 65 and above.
WHO Warning
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Sunday on X, “Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average.” He added that more than 1,300 excess deaths have been recorded since June 21 linked to high temperatures in Europe.
Tedros warned that heat stress is often called the ‘silent killer’ — and European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures. He called on European countries to implement action plans, focusing on preparedness, prevention and stronger health system responses.
Original reporting: NBC Connecticut — read the source article.
