The climate crisis was responsible for more than half of the 68,000 heat-related deaths during Europe’s hot summer of 2022, according to a study.
As reported by the British newspaper The Guardian, researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) found that 38,000 fewer people would have died from the heat if human intervention had not contributed to greenhouse gas emissions. The number of deaths is about ten times higher than the number of homicides in Europe in the same year.
“Many see climate change as a future concern,” said lead researcher Thessa Beck, noting that the findings underscore that it is already a pressing issue.
Women, the South, and the Elderly More Vulnerable
The heatwave resulted in more women dying than men. Additionally, more individuals from Southern Europe died compared to those from Northern Europe, and more elderly individuals perished than younger ones. Scientists already knew that air pollution caused more intense heat waves, but they were unaware of the escalating impacts on the death toll.
According to scientists, 56% of heat-related deaths could have been avoided if the world had not warmed due to fossil fuel burning and environmental destruction. This percentage ranged between 44% and 54% in the previous six years.
Even small temperature increases can have devastating effects on public health, stated Emily Theokritoff, a researcher at Imperial College London, who was not involved in the study. “This outcome makes sense—heat-related deaths increase rapidly as temperatures exceed the limits to which people have acclimated.”
Hospitals Unprepared for Heatwave Impacts
Europe is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, yet doctors warn that its hospitals are not prepared to handle the consequences. The rising temperatures force more people to endure the scorching summer heat, pushing their bodies to overload, even as their exposure to the cold winter chill decreases, leaving them too weak to fight off illnesses.
Scientists predict that lives lost due to hotter summers in Europe will surpass those saved from colder winters if the planet warms more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Last week, the UN environmental program warned that the world could warm by 3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
Even Greater Risks in Africa, Asia, and South America
The risks from extreme heat are even greater in Africa, Asia, and South America, but a lack of data has limited studies on how it affects human health, Beck stated.
“A common misconception is that only extreme temperatures pose a serious risk,” she said. “However, our study, along with previous research, shows that even moderate heat can lead to heat-related deaths, especially among the most vulnerable populations.”
The scientists had previously used heat and health data for 35 European countries to estimate how many more people die as a result of heat. In the new study, they ran the model with temperatures for a hypothetical world where humans had not warmed the planet.
They found that climate change is responsible for 22,501 heat-related deaths in women and 14,026 heat-related deaths in men.
