The latest heat wave in Europe caused 3,700 fatalities in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, according to health authorities, although experts expect this number to increase since there is still incomplete data available. As stated by the health officials, the phenomenon occurred at the beginning of the last week of June when temperatures rose above 40 degrees Celsius, which is perceived as one of the most severe waves of heat in Europe for many years.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the fact that the most damaging factor during the heat wave was not only the day-time temperature. The high air temperature during the night hours, when the warm weather continued, posed an additional threat to human health since the high temperature provided no relief.
As mentioned by the French Minister of Health, Stephanie Rist, France witnessed the highest number of heat-related deaths during the week, with 2,025 fatalities, which accounted for a 29% increase in comparison with the average for the previous period of time. The affected population was mostly represented by elderly people over 65 years old, but people aged 45 to 64 also increased the number of fatalities significantly.
Furthermore, officials in public health circles started seeing another alarming pattern.
The home deaths have increased dramatically, over 90%, during the past week. The increase was also noted among those residing in nursing homes and other health institutions, which mean that the world’s poor could no longer resist extreme conditions for a prolonged period of time.
According to France’s officials, the numbers mentioned above should not be taken for granted, and we should wait for some time to know the final number of persons crowded by the current death toll.
The problem of the heat wave was not only in public health problems caused by it.
The daily life in France was affected. Schools of different levels suspended their activity, the same happened to various trains, which started being canceled there. Political criticism was sparked by the actions of the French authorities aimed to counteract the influence of the heat wave.
Belgium also suffered from considerable changes.
Statistics show that the excess deaths totaled about 1222, which was about 39% above from the expected number of dead people. The health care professionals define this growth as extraordinary and unprecedented.
At the same time, the Netherlands reported around 480 excess deaths as well. Just like in France and Belgium, the majority of victims were elders.
By far the crisis wasn’t limited to those three nations.
Many other countries in Europe also broke their temperature records in July last summer. Germany, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the U.K., and Switzerland too set high records of temperatures in history which manifested how extensively the heat wave had spread.
Even French recorded its hottest night ever since its weather records began to be kept which indicated the threat of the heat wave still existed even after nightfall.
Scientists have been warning about the danger of extreme heat regularly since now it has developed to be one of the most lethal forces of nature that can kill people like fire. Extreme temperatures come silently. Instead of being visibly dangerous such as storms or floods, heatwaves can kill more people after some time than either catastrophes do.
