A study conducted by the Barcelona Institute of International Health and published by the “Nature Medicine” magazine – yesterday – showed that the summer heat in 2024 caused more than 62 thousand and 700 deaths related to free in Europe, which represents an increase of approximately 25% compared to 2023.
“Europe has witnessed more than 181,000 deaths related to heat during the summer seasons in the period from 2022 to 2024,” said the lead author of the study, Joan Palceter Claramont.
As was the case in 2022 and 2023, Italy recorded the highest number of deaths as a result of the heat in the summer of 2024, when the number of deaths was estimated at 19,000 cases during the period from June 1 to September 30, 2024.
Spain ranked second with more than 6,700 deaths, followed by Germany with about 6,300 deaths.
Greece ranked fourth with a little less than 6,000 deaths, then Romania ranked fifth with more than 4,900 deaths.
In some countries, such as Germany, Spain and France, the summer of 2022 was worse.
In general, the researchers indicated that Europe witnessed a little free deaths in 2022 compared to 2024.
The researchers pointed out that factors such as the regional distribution of heat play a role in these differences, and that the elderly are the most at risk.