More than 200,000 people have died in Europe in the past four years due to heat waves. This is reported by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Journalist at HLN
Source: Belga
“Heat waves are no longer exceptional weather phenomena,” the WHO said. “Today they are a recurring crisis that causes suffering, claims lives and puts pressure on our health care systems and infrastructure.”
The majority of those deaths were “completely avoidable”, says regional director Hans Kluge. In addition, millions more people were also “physically and mentally affected.”
Fastest warming continent
The WHO European Region consists of 52 countries. In addition to the EU countries, this also concerns countries in Central Asia. Europe is the fastest warming continent: it is warming twice as fast as the global average.
Heat waves are becoming more intense and frequent due to climate change. Heat is known as a silent killer, because it is rarely mentioned as a cause of death.