Fraseres Cemetery in Lisbon, Portugal on the 19th (local time). Over 1,000 people died due to the heat wave. Lisbon | Archyde.com Yonhap News
While Europe is suffering from a record heat wave, over 1,000 people have died in the last 10 days due to heat illness in Portugal. Including cases in Spain, it is estimated that 1,700 people have died in Europe alone.
Portugal’s Ministry of Health (DGS) director Grasa Freitas told Archyde.com on the 19th (local time) that the death toll from the heat wave from the 7th to the 18th had risen to 1,063. Excess death means a death that exceeds the normal level of death due to a specific cause. Previously, DGS reported that there were 238 deaths due to heatwaves until the 13th, but the number has risen sharply recently. Currently, the explosive heat of over 40 degrees continues across Portugal.
The sweltering heat is rampant not only in Portugal, but also in Spain and the UK. In Spain, temperatures soared to 45.7 degrees last week, and heatwave warnings have been issued across the country. According to the Carlos III Institute of Health, there were 678 heat-related deaths in Spain between the 10th and 17th. If Portugal’s deaths are included, more than 1,700 excess deaths have occurred in Europe alone.
England over 40 degrees… A woman wears a parasol to protect her baby from the scorching sun in London, England, on the 19th (local time) in this heat, a first for everyone. Temperatures in Britain exceeded 40 degrees Celsius for the first time in history. Due to the heat of the heat wave, railway tracks were bent in various places and roads rose. London | AP Yonhap News
Calculating the number of excess deaths due to heatwaves is a difficult task, so if the numbers are calculated correctly, there is a possibility that the number will increase even more than now. In Europe, air-conditioning facilities are less common than in the United States, so experts believe that the effects of heat waves on health will be more fatal.
In the UK, the highest temperature ever exceeded 40 degrees Celsius for the first time in history. Stephen Belcher, Chief Scientific Officer of the UK Meteorological Agency, said: “The Meteorological Agency study shows that it is virtually impossible for the UK temperature to reach 40 degrees, but climate change caused by greenhouse gases has made these extreme temperatures possible.”
Professor Friederic Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College in the UK, warned the BBC about the effects of climate change and predicted that “in a few decades, this will be a pretty cool summer.” It means that the rain will get worse as time goes on.
At a joint press conference with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Director-General Petteri Thalas said: “Heat heat is becoming more frequent and these negative trends, irrespective of the success of climate mitigation efforts, will be at least 2060. It will last until the next decade,” he said. “Thanks to climate change, our records are starting to break,” he said.
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