The extreme heat that gripped Europe in late June claimed thousands of lives. According to the international research group World Weather Attribution, global warming tripled the death toll—without it, the temperature spike would have been significantly less severe.
Climate change sharply intensified the heatwave that struck Europe in late June and early July, tripling the number of fatalities, scientists from the international group World Weather Attribution said on Wednesday.
Exceptionally high temperatures swept across much of the continent, exposing millions of people to dangerously extreme heat.
After analyzing data from 12 European cities, the researchers concluded that in 11 of them, the heat observed last week would have been 2–4 degrees Celsius cooler without human-induced global warming.
According to the researchers, climate change was the primary driver behind the sharp spike in excess mortality across heat-affected cities. Of the 2 300 additional deaths linked to high temperatures, roughly 1 500 were directly attributable to global warming.
"Climate change fundamentally alters the equation when it comes to extreme heat," said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London and one of the study’s authors.
Last week, a construction worker in Italy and a street cleaner in Spain reportedly died of heatstroke. However, the vast majority of heat-related fatalities—especially among the elderly—go unrecorded. Scientists noted that nearly all the deaths they analyzed involved individuals over the age of 65.
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Because of this, heat is often described as a "silent killer"—less visible but no less deadly than other climate disasters. According to researchers, last week’s heatwave claimed more lives than some of the recent floods that killed hundreds.
"Our study captures only a fraction of the true scale," said Garifallios Konstantinoudis, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. "The actual death toll from climate-induced heat could reach tens of thousands."
Global warming, driven by the burning of fossil fuels—coal, oil, and gas—is intensifying heatwaves around the world. Europe’s vulnerability is further exacerbated by its aging population, as older adults are particularly sensitive to extreme temperatures.
The European Environment Agency warns that if global warming reaches 1.5°C, heat-related mortality in Europe could increase tenfold. A 3°C rise could push that figure to thirty times today’s levels. The planet has already warmed by 1.3°C since pre-industrial times and is on track to reach 2.7°C this century.