In total, 2300 people died during the tenth heat wave. According to the modeling of researchers, almost two -thirds of cases, namely 1500, are associated with the fact that the earth is heated.
In order to quickly provide the public with the assessment of how many changes in the climate contributed to the thermal wave and death, the researchers abandoned the usual methods of testing without introduction. However, they used methods that have been tested many times.
The main idea: you model the world without changing the climate, compare the temperatures there with actually measured values and calculate the number of expected heat notes in both scenarios.
“The team was based on a recognized methodology of very timely analysis,” confirmed the Hamburg climate, scientist, Johem Marrottsk from the German press agency. He himself did not participate in the study. This is “very well done.”
June has never been hot in Western Europe
In 1,500 additional deaths from the climate change, the wave of heat caused significantly more deaths than other climatic disasters over the past few years: floods in Valencia 2024 required more than 200 victims, and disasters
“This study shows why thermal waves are known as silent killers,” said Malcolm Mista, an epidemiologist and co-author of the study. Because: heat rarely appears as an official cause of death, but, for example, a heart attack that is approved by him. “Although in Spain, France and Italy it was reported a handful of death, we expect thousands of more as a result of luminous temperatures.”
In Western Europe, June was hot with an average temperature of more than 20 degrees than any other June. The European weather surveillance service is reported by Copernicus. Average temperatures, such as during the heat wave in June, were never measured so early. In 2003, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023 there were comparable thermal waves, but they were created only in mid -July.
“Such early extreme heat is often deadly, because people are not yet used to high summer temperatures,” the authors of the study write and add: “In the current climate, such a thermal wave is no longer a rare event.” In basic studies, extreme temperatures can occur every two to five summer at the end of June.
Giant forest fire in Saxony under control
The authors note that heat also increases the risk of forest fires, because the leaves, herbs and trees dry out. The consequences for the health of smoke were not included in the study.
In Saxon Gorishheid, a forest burned for more than a week. The location is currently mainly under control, but the last coals should still be removed. According to the district office in Meissel, the flame burned out 86 percent of the vegetation up to 2400 hectares of the reserve.
This is almost a three of the district, which has been burned throughout Germany on average since 1991.
