The European Environment Agency (EEA) estimated in a report that 90,000 Europeans could die each year from heat waves by the end of the century if action is not taken to prevent them.
"Without adaptation measures, and within the framework of a global warming scenario of 3°C by 2100, 90,000 Europeans could die from heat waves each year," the EEA report noted.
With warming of 1.5°C, the goal of the Paris agreement, this figure is reduced to 30,000 deaths per year, says the report, based on a study published in 2020.
Between 1980 and 2020, some 129,000 Europeans due to the heat, with a strong acceleration in the recent period, according to the AFP agency .
According to the EEA, the combination of more frequent heat waves along with an aging population and increased urbanization makes Europeans more vulnerable to high temperatures, especially in the south of the continent.
On Monday, the European office of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that at least 15,000 deaths in Europe were directly related to the severe heat waves of summer 2022.
In addition to repeated waves of extreme temperatures, climate change is making the region increasingly susceptible to the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases. In fact, some types of mosquitoes, vectors of malaria and dengue, remain longer in Europe, notes the EEA.
According to the report, rising temperatures also favor the proliferation of bacteria in the water, especially in the Baltic Sea, such as Vibrio bacteria, the best known of which is responsible for cholera.
"A wide range of solutions must be put in place, such as effective action plans against heat, greener cities, design and construction of appropriate buildings and adaptation of working hours and conditions," the document says.
