A new report says more than 47,000 people died in Europe last year due to extreme heat.
The figure comes from modelling by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, released on Monday.
The researchers found that in 2023, the hottest year on record, southern Europe had the highest mortality rate on the continent.
Greece had an estimated 393 heatstroke deaths per million inhabitants, followed by Bulgaria with 229, Italy with 209 and Spain with 175.
By comparison, Germany is expected to see 76 deaths per million people.
In most countries analysed, heat-related deaths are significantly higher for women than for men, and older people are particularly at risk of dying – health risks that are expected to increase with climate change.
Adapting to heat can save lives
The report also found that adaptation measures such as improved medical care, early warning systems, better communications and advances in occupational hygiene all reduced heatstroke deaths.
Without these adaptations, deaths would have increased by 80%, the study found.
“Our results indicate that societies have undergone a process of adaptation to higher temperatures this century, leading to dramatic declines in heat-related vulnerability and mortality in recent summers, especially among older people,” said Elisa Gallo, lead author of the study.
How heatwaves affect our bodies and brains
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The study found that the temperature associated with the lowest risk of death gradually increased from 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) between 2000 and 2004 to 17.7 degrees Celsius (63.86 degrees Fahrenheit) between 2015 and 2019.
“This suggests that we are less vulnerable to heat than we were at the beginning of this century, likely a result of overall socio-economic progress, improvements in individual behaviour and public health measures such as heat prevention programmes implemented since the record-breaking summer of 2003,” Gallo said.
zc/jsi (dpa, Reuters, AFP)
