Why do Europeans suffer in temperatures reaching 40 degrees when at the same time it is fairly normal in many countries?

Arab Weather - In the past few days, record temperatures were recorded in many European countries, which led to residents feeling and suffering from extreme heat.

Southern Europe is experiencing an intense heatwave with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius, prompting countries to issue heat warnings, ban outdoor work, and impose daytime curfews for pregnant women and children.

In several southern European and Balkan cities, municipal authorities have taken measures to care for the elderly, with civil protection crews receiving calls for water-dropping aircraft such as Canadairs to extinguish forest fires that have broken out in southern Italy and northern Macedonia.

But on the other hand, a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius is considered normal in other regions of the world, but why are Europeans concerned?

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Why do Europeans suffer in temperatures reaching 40 degrees when at the same time it is fairly normal in many countries?

• The nature of buildings in Europe and the absence of air conditioning

Mariam Zakaria, a climate scientist at Imperial College London, explains that buildings in many European countries were not designed to withstand temperatures exceeding 25 degrees Celsius. This problem is most pronounced in Northern Europe, where homes are built to retain heat to help residents endure the cold, causing indoor temperatures to rise during heatwaves.

Only a small percentage of buildings are equipped with air conditioners, and cities that are not designed to withstand high temperatures often lack the appropriate infrastructure to keep people cool, such as the absence of green spaces, umbrellas, and water.

• Global Warming

Global warming from pollution and carbon dioxide emissions has increased the intensity and frequency of heatwaves across Europe, and Nikos Christidis, a climate scientist at the Met Office, said climate change had “increased the likelihood of record extreme temperatures in the UK”, adding that “the chances of “Seeing days with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in the UK is ten times more likely than in a natural climate that was not affected by human action.”

Other reasons for the difference between Europe and Arab countries

Dr. Abdullah Al-Misnad, former professor of climate at Qassim University, and founder and head of the committee for naming distinctive climate conditions in Saudi Arabia, revealed the factors that make heat waves deadly in Europe, while they are not so in the Arab countries.

Dr. Al-Misnad explained through his account on “X” earlier:

“Why do heat waves kill in Europe and not in the Arab countries?” Pointing out that this question is often asked when heat waves affect some European countries, even though the maximum temperatures in parts of Europe do not reach the intensity of the heat in the Arab world.

He added that deaths due to heat waves in Europe often occur among the elderly and sick, especially those suffering from heart or respiratory diseases, with a rate of up to about 95% of deaths including those over the age of 65 years. He explained that Europe has a wide segment of the elderly, and many Some of them live alone without care.

Dr. Al-Misnad continued that there are seven main factors that explain the high number of deaths there:

• Europeans' bodies do not adapt to high temperatures as in Arab regions.
• There are no air conditioners or even fans in many European homes, especially homes for the elderly.
• Buildings in Europe are designed to conserve heat in the winter, causing small rooms to heat up more quickly during heatwaves.
• High air humidity due to forests, rivers, lakes, and cities near the coast or being an island country, such as Britain, which reduces the effectiveness of sweating and cooling the body.
• The purity of Europe's skies is free from impurities and dust particles that limit the strength of solar radiation in the Arab regions.
• The thickness of the atmosphere at high latitudes is less than in the tropics, which increases the feeling of sunshine and heat.
• The length of the day in Europe during the summer compared to our Arab regions. The day in Europe is longer than the day in central Saudi Arabia by about 2-3 hours.

Dr. Al-Musnad concluded by saying:

“All or some of these factors may be a cause of death due to heat waves in Europe... God knows best.”

Solutions to confront the heat in Europe

On the other hand, Sioki Philipp from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute said that he considers these measures to be an emergency, and points out that European countries need long-term action plans to confront rising temperatures. This includes planting more trees in cities, building heat-resistant houses, rehabilitating buildings and creating strong early warning systems. The European Union calls on city officials and governments to take these measures, stressing the need to adapt to climate change quickly, efficiently and systematically.

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