A new study released by ISGlobal has laid the blame for 50,000 deaths in Europe in 2023 on the exceptionally high temperatures experienced by the region last summer. Greece’s population was worst hit by the extreme conditions, followed by Italy and Spain.
According to a recently published study by ISGlobal, a Barcelona-based scientific research and knowledge transfer centre dedicated to global health, 50,000 Europeans died as a result of excessive heat fuelled by carbon emissions and other pollutants in 2023.
The Greeks suffered the most heat-related loss of life, with 393 recorded deaths per million people. Italy was next highest with 209, followed by Spain, which noted 175 such deaths per million.
These shocking mortality rates could have been 80% higher, say the authors of the study, which was published by Nature Medicine, if local populations hadn’t adapted to rising temperatures over the past two decades. For example, Europe’s 2003 heatwaves are believed to have caused in excess of 70,000 deaths and are considered one of Europe’s most glaring health related disasters.
“But the number of heat-related deaths [in 2023] is still too high,” warned Elisa Gallo, an environmental epidemiologist at ISGlobal and the lead author of the study, in comments to The Guardian. “Europe is warming at twice the rate of the global average – we can’t rest on our laurels.”
The European continent is a notable climatic hotspot, given that warming since preindustrial levels is almost 1 °C higher than the corresponding global increase. Rates here are also the highest of all other continents.
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Across the continent, from its northern reaches to its Mediterranean shores, governments are looking at measures to further reduce heat-related health risks in future. These include designing cities with less concrete and more green spaces, establishing heatwave early warning systems and putting healthcare professionals on alert as temperatures soar to prevent the overloading of national health services.
Combined with populations doing more to ensure their own safety, adopting habits such as staying indoors during the hottest parts of the day and drinking more water, authorities will be no doubt hoping that the figures from 2024 will be less severe.
“More work is needed to adapt to climate change and mitigate the rise in temperatures,” concluded Gallo in her comments. “Climate change needs to be considered as a health issue.”
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