“By 2100, 90,000 Europeans could die every year,” warns the European Environment Agency

The European Environment Agency (EEA) warned on Wednesday 8 November that 90,000 Europeans could die from heat waves every year by the end of the century if nothing is done to stop it. “Without adaptation measures, under a 3°C global warming scenario by 2100, 90,000 Europeans could die from heat waves every year. »

With the 1.5°C warming target set by the Paris Agreement, the figure would be 30,000 deaths per year, he underlines, based on a study published in 2020. Between 1980 and 2020, 129,000 Europeans fell victim to extreme temperatures. Acceleration in recent period.

Known risk and degenerative factors include: increased frequency
Heat waves, the growth of urbanization, which make Europeans vulnerable, especially in the south of the old continent, not to mention an aging and very fragile population.

15,000 deaths by 2022

On Monday, the European Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that in Europe, at least 15,000 deaths were directly linked to the extreme heat waves of summer 2022. In addition to frequent heat waves, a changing climate is making the region teeter. Infectious diseases are likely to emerge and spread.

The EEA notes that some species of mosquitoes, such as those that transmit malaria and dengue fever, remain longer in Europe. Rising temperatures also favor the proliferation of bacteria in water, especially bacteria Vibrio vulnificus The most famous of these is the cause of cholera – in the Baltic Sea.

Preventive and monitoring measures should make it possible to reduce these health effects.

“A range of solutions should be implemented, including effective heat action programs, greening of cities, design and construction of appropriate buildings, and modification of working hours and conditions.”The report says its authors believe the majority of heat-related deaths in Europe are preventable.