The global warming generated by human activity was responsible for two of three deaths caused by the heat in Europe, during this year’s hot summer, shows a preliminary analysis of mortality in 854 large cities.
The elderly are the most vulnerable photo shutterstock
Epidemiologists and climatologists attributed 16,500 of the 24,400 deaths caused by heat, between June and August, to the extreme temperatures generated by greenhouse gases, according to The Guardian.
Rapid analysis, based on consecrated but not yet subjected methods of the Peer Review, shows that climate collapse has made the cities by 2.2 ° C hotter, massively increasing the number of victims of dangerous temperatures.
“The causal chain, from the burning of fossil fuels to the increase of heat and mortality, is undeniable”said Friederike Otto, a climatologist at Imperial College London and co -author. “If we had not continued to burn fossil fuels in recent decades, most of the approximately 24,400 people in Europe would not have died this summer.”
The elderly, the most vulnerable to the extreme heat
Scientists have used local relations between temperature and mortality to model the number of excess deaths in the hottest months of the year and compared the results – covering cities where almost a third of Europe – with a hypothetical scenario without climatic changes.
They found that high temperatures were responsible for about 68% of estimated deaths. The elderly were most affected by suffocating temperatures, 85% of victims over 65, and 41% over 85 years.
“The vast majority of heat -caused deaths occur in houses and hospitals, where people with pre -existing conditions are pushed to the limit.”explained Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London and co -author. “But the heat is rarely mentioned on the death certificates.”
Some of the victims who died outdoors were named by the local press. Manuel Ariza Serrano, a former 77 -year -old counselor from La Rambla, Spain, died after collapsing during a walk in August, according to the Local Council and former colleagues in the Córdoba region, where the temperatures reached 45 ° C that weekend.
Brahim Ait El Hajjam, a 47 -year -old father, who was running a floor company in northern Italy, died while pouring a school’s concrete near Bologna, where the temperatures had reached 38 ° C that day. He died two days before a regional order forbade the work of outdoor construction at noon.
“He gave a phone call to my mother to tell him that he was coming home to prepare lunch.”said Salah, his 19 -year -old son. “He told her he would be home until noon.”
Konstantinoudis said that the risk of public health represented by the heat waves is still underestimated, despite the obvious dangers.
“No one would expect anyone to risk their life working in torrential rain or during hurricane winds.”he said. “But the dangerous heat is still treated too superficially.”
Call to action and protective measures
The cities of Europe are better prepared to cope with the extreme heat than in 2003, when a devastating heat wave killed 70,000 people, but emergency services are struggling to keep up with the rising temperatures and the aging of the population.
Doctors have asked for local action plans for heat waves, several green spaces in cities – which are hotter than surrounding rural areas – and air conditioning installations for vulnerable groups, such as elderly residents.
Madeleine Thomson, a climatic adaptation expert at Wellcome, a non-profit organization in the field of health, which was involved in the study, said that new data shows that “no metropolis in Europe is immune.” to deaths caused by extreme heat.
“If we do not act now, the balance sheet will grow”she warned. “We must urgently eliminate fossil fuels and implement policies to protect the most exposed to risk in the face of increasingly deadly heat.”
