Over 60,000 people perished due to extreme heat in Europe during last year’s unprecedented summer, as revealed by a key study on Monday, highlighting the severe impact of climate change on the continent.
With Europe warming at twice the global rate, researchers from Spain proposed an emergency alert system to warn vulnerable groups, especially the elderly, of impending dangerous heatwaves.
The journal Nature Medicine reported, “Europe faced an exceptionally lethal summer in 2024 with over 60,000 heat-related fatalities, totaling over 181,000 deaths over the past three summers.”
Researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) determined this figure by examining mortality data from 32 European countries, covering 539 million people.
Last summer’s death toll, the hottest in recorded history for Europe and globally, was estimated at 62,775.
This figure was nearly 25% higher than the revised estimate of 50,798 for summer 2023 but lower than 2022’s total of 67,873.
However, lead study author Tomas Janos of ISGlobal told AFP that various uncertainties in this research mean these numbers are not “final and exact.”
Considering this uncertainty, the 2024 study provided a broader estimate range of 35,000 to 85,000 deaths.
Determining fatalities directly caused by rising temperatures is challenging since heat is seldom recorded as a cause of death.
Besides immediate effects like heatstroke and dehydration, heat contributes to a wide array of potentially lethal health issues, such as heart attacks, strokes, and respiratory problems.
The study identified Italy as having the highest heat-related deaths last summer, with an estimated 19,000, followed by Spain and Germany, each with over 6,000.
When factoring in population size, Greece had the highest mortality rate with 574 deaths per million people, followed by Bulgaria and Serbia.
– Looking Ahead to 2025 –
What about the recently concluded summer in Europe, considered the hottest on record in countries like Spain and the UK?
Last week, a quick analysis suggested that human-induced climate change contributed to about 16,500 deaths this summer—albeit only in European cities, a small portion of the overall population.
Instead of waiting months or years for official mortality data releases and the extensive peer-review process, British researchers aimed to offer a faster snapshot of the 2025 toll.
Unlike Monday’s study, which analyzed actual recorded deaths, the rapid attribution study estimated heat-related deaths by extrapolating from previous years.
Janos noted that both research types are vital, providing either initial assumptions or more precise estimates that can influence policy.
Monday’s study also assessed a tool using weather forecasts to issue emergency alerts before potentially fatal heatwaves, finding that alerts were effective at least a week in advance.
Joan Ballester Claramunt of ISGlobal indicated this early warning system is an “unexplored opportunity to save lives among the most vulnerable populations.”
