The high temperature caused the death of 50 thousand Europeans
About 50,000 people died last year due to the record hot weather observed in Europe. In 2023, heat-related deaths were highest in Greece at 393 deaths per million people, followed by 209 in Italy and 175 in Spain. The continent is currently warming faster than any other part of the world.
Last year, record high temperatures caused by carbon pollution killed 50,000 people in Europe. The continent is currently warming faster than other parts of the world, according to an ISGlobal study published in the journal Nature Medicine.
In 2023, heat-related deaths were highest in Greece at 393 deaths per million people, followed by 209 in Italy and 175 in Spain.
Doctors call heatstroke the "silent killer" because it's taking more lives than most people think. If people hadn't adapted to rising temperatures over the past two decades, the death rate would have been 80 percent higher in 2023, said Elisa Gallo, an environmental epidemiologist at ISGlobal.
"But the number of heat-related deaths is still too high," warned the expert. "Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average - we cannot rest on our laurels."
Heat waves are becoming more intense, longer and more frequent as humans burn fossil fuels and destroy nature - filling the atmosphere with greenhouse gases that act as planet-warmers, the report says.
Globally, 2023 was the hottest year on record, and scientists expect new "marks" to be reached in 2024.
Researchers have confirmed that the number of uncomfortably hot days has also increased in cool European countries such as Britain, Norway and Switzerland .
But the absolute death toll is still highest in southern Europe , where hot weather is more common and heatwaves are more affected.
The study's findings came as wildfires ravaged forests around Athens. Meanwhile, France has issued high temperature warnings for large areas of the country, while Britain is expecting its hottest day of the year.
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