Killer heat in Europe: heat-related deaths tripled, almost 500 in Milan and Rome

Climate change tripled heat wave deaths in European cities during last week's surge. This is according to a rapid study led by scientists from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and reported by Greenpeace.

According to the study, climate change intensified the recent European heat wave and increased the expected number of heat-related deaths by about 1,500 in 12 European cities. Focusing on ten heatwave days from 23 June to 2 July, the researchers estimated the death toll using peer-review methods and found that climate change tripled the number of heat-related deaths, with the use of fossil fuels increasing heatwave temperatures by up to 4 degrees Celsius in all cities.

"Approximately 1,500 of the estimated 2,300 heat-related deaths, or 65 per cent, are the result of climate change," the study reads. "Climate change was responsible for an estimated 317 excess deaths in Milan, 286 in Barcelona, 235 in Paris, 171 in London, 164 in Rome, 108 in Madrid, 96 in Athens, 47 in Budapest, 31 in Zagreb, 21 in Frankfurt, 21 in Lisbon and 6 in Sassari."

According to the researchers, this means that the likely death toll from climate change-driven heat in many European cities was higher than other recent disasters, including the 2024 Valencia floods (224 deaths) and the 2021 floods in north-west Europe (243 deaths). People aged 65 and over accounted for 88% of climate change-related deaths.

"To put an end to this crisis, governments must abandon the use of fossil fuels and really get on the road of transition to renewables, and the big fossil fuel companies must start paying for the damage they are causing with their out-of-control emissions," says Federico Spadini of Greenpeace Italy's climate campaign.