Every year, more than 175,000 people die from them heat waves in Europe, the fastest warming continent, warns a report from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO’s European region, which also includes Asian countries such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, accounts for 36% of the 489,000 heat deaths worldwide each year, the organization says.
“Across the region and its 53 member states, people are paying the highest price,” said WHO Regional Director Hans Kluge.
During the last two decades, heat death has increased in the region by 30%.
“Extreme temperatures aggravate chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular, respiratory and cerebrovascular diseases, mental health and diabetes-related disorders”, underlines WHO Europe.
The warning comes shortly after Greece came to life the longest heat wave since 1980with temperatures exceeding 37 degrees across the country for more than two weeks.
heat
The heat waves they also cause heat stress“which happens when the human body fails to maintain a temperature between 36 and 37 degrees Celsius, and which is currently the main cause of climate-related mortality in the region.”
According to the report, the number of heat wave victims will “increase” in the coming years due to climate change, which increases the intensity and duration of heat waves.
The July heat wave was the longest Greece has experienced in more than 40 years (InTime)
In fact, in Europe the average temperature is increasing about twice as fast as in the rest of the planet.
“The three warmest years on record in the WHO European Region occurred after 2020, while the ten warmest years were recorded since 2007,” Kluge said.
Temperature record
According to the European Copernicus service and the World Meteorological Organization, this year’s June was the hottest on record worldwide, while July is also “almost certain” as it will be the hottest of all time.
Data from Copernicus show that the average global temperature in the first 23 days of July reached 16.95 degrees Celsius, almost 0.3 degrees above the previous record set in July 2019.
In addition, this year’s July exceeded the international target for the climateaccording to which the increase in average temperature until the end of the century should not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
Exceeding the limit in July does not mean that all hope is lost, because the goal of the Paris Agreement concerns the average for at least 20 years.
Based on available data, some climatologists even predict that 2024 as a whole will surpass 2023’s record as the hottest year on recorduh, probably the hottest in 100,000 years.
Source: APE-MPE / AFP