Over 47,000 died in Europe in 2023 due to heat: Report

MADRID — More than 47,000 people died in Europe due to scorching temperatures last year, with countries in the region's south hit the hardest, according to a report by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, or ISGlobal, published on Monday.

Last year was the world's hottest on record. As climate change continues to increase temperatures, Europeans live in the world's fastest-warming continent, facing growing health risks stemming from intense heat.

Last year's death toll — below the more than 60,000 heat-related deaths estimated for the previous year — would have been 80 percent higher without measures introduced in the past 20 years to help people adapt to rising temperatures, such as early warning systems and healthcare improvements.

"Our results show how there have been societal adaptation processes to high temperatures during the present century, which have dramatically reduced the heat-related vulnerability and mortality burden of recent summers, especially among the elderly," Elisa Gallo, a researcher at ISGlobal and lead author of the study, said.

Researchers used death and temperature records from 35 European countries. They estimated that 47,690 died from causes related to high temperatures.

Adjusting the data for population, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy and Spain were the countries with the highest mortality rates related to heat.

This year, Earth again saw an alarming trend of record-breaking heat. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, whose historical data goes back 175 years, this year will definitely be one of the five hottest years on record.

In July, the global temperature was 1.21 C above the 20th-century average of 15.8 C, the NOAA said.

On Tuesday, Greece's worst wildfire of the year killed one woman and continued to burn on the outskirts of the capital Athens, although lighter winds and firefighting efforts helped reduce its intensity, authorities said.

Hundreds of firefighters backed by six water bombing aircraft battled the blaze that broke out on Sunday near the village of Varnavas, 35 kilometers north of Athens.

Stoked by gale-force winds, the blaze leapt from a wooded, hilly area into the suburbs on Monday, torching homes and stirring panic in neighborhoods that had not seen such a fire so close to the center in decades.

It reached Vrilissia, around 14 km from central Athens, a day ago, where a 64-year-old woman was found dead inside a factory, witnesses said on Tuesday.

The cause of the wildfire was not yet determined.

Agencies Via Xinhua