Shocking numbers | More than 60 thousand deaths in Europe last summer due to heat waves and fears of a repeat of the tragedy this summer

Weather of Arabia - shocking figures revealed by the latest statistics for the victims of heat waves in Europe, which confirm that more than 60,000 deaths were recorded throughout Europe due to the successive heat waves that affected them in the summer of last year (2022), amid fears of a repeat of the same scenario this year. Coinciding with the impact of the heat wave on the continent, but in greater numbers.

According to what was reported by “France 24” channel, according to scientists from the French Institute for Health Research (Inserm) and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), that without an effective response, the European continent will face an average of more than 68 thousand deaths every summer by the year 2030, and more than 94,000 by 2040.

Analyzes and forecasts of the increasing number of deaths as a result of the heat

Scientists analyzed temperature and mortality data for the period between 2015 and 2022 in 823 regions of 35 European countries, with a total population of more than 543 million people.

Based on this, they were able to construct epidemiological models to predict the number of deaths caused by temperatures in each region and each week of the summer period last year.

The analysis showed that between May 30 and September 4, 2022, there could be 61,672 heat-related deaths in Europe, according to France 24.

During that period, a severe heat wave hit Europe, especially between July 18 and 24, when a total of 11,637 deaths were attributed to the high temperatures.

In turn, Hisham Ashbak, a researcher at Inserm and co-author of the study conducted by the journal "Nature Medicine", commented on this phenomenon, telling Agence France-Presse: "It is a very large number of deaths."

He added, "We knew the effect of heat on the death rate since 2003, but we see with this analysis that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to protect the population."

In the summer of 2003, when the continent witnessed one of the largest heat waves in its history, death figures in Europe exceeded 70,000 deaths.

While the summer of 2022 was the hottest ever in Europe, as it witnessed a succession of heat waves that exceeded record levels in terms of temperatures, drought and forest fires.

Rising temperatures are a direct result of the climate crisis, according to scientists, with increasing intensity, duration and frequency of greenhouse gas emissions.