The World Health Organization warns of the dramatic consequences of record temperatures in 2022 in Europe. In France, an excess mortality of 11,000 people during the summer of 2022 compared to that of 2019 was recorded.
- The January-September 2022 period was the hottest ever observed in France since 1947.
- At the peak of the July heat wave, 63 municipalities broke their absolute heat record, with temperatures sometimes reaching 40 to 42°C, such as in Brest (Finistère), Cazaux (Gironde) or Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques).
- From 1970 to 2021, successive heat waves have already caused the death of nearly 39,000 people in France, including 15,000 during the deadliest episode of 2003, according to figures from Public Health France.
The summer of 2022 has broken many records… It is the hottest on record in Europe, according to data from the European Copernicus Institute, and it has caused terrible fires. In France, this summer was the second hottest in history, after that of 2003. And July 2022 was the third hottest month of July ever recorded in France and in the world.
As a result, more than 15,000 deaths in Europe are directly due to the severe heat waves that affected the Old Continent, according to a still incomplete estimate published Monday, September 7 by the World Health Organization (WHO) within the framework of COP27 on the climate and relayed by 20 minutes with AFP.
Heatwave: 148,000 dead in Europe for 50 years
According to WHO data, in fifty years, extreme temperatures have caused the death of 148,000 Europeans. With 15,000 deaths, at least but probably more, in a single year, 2022 alone would constitute more than 10% of this total.
“Based on national data already published, it is estimated that 15,000 people died specifically from heat in 2022”warns the director of the European branch of the WHO, Hans Kluge, in a communicated. This figure, which includes 4,500 dead in Germany, nearly 4,000 in Spain, more than 3,200 in the United Kingdom and a thousand in Portugal, “expected to increase, with several countries reporting excess heat-related deaths”he adds.
Hot weather: 11,000 more deaths in France this summer
The WHO also indicates that the French Institute of Statistics, Insee, recorded an excess mortality of 11,000 people during the summer of 2022 compared to the summer of 2019 preceding the Covid-19 pandemic. This difference is “probably” explained by the very high temperatures recorded in June and July in particular.
According to a UN report released last week, Europe is the fastest warming continent, with temperatures rising more than twice the global average over the past 30 years.
“Climate change is already killing us, but strong action today can prevent more deaths”insists the UN Health Organization, while the COP27 is currently being held in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt from November 6 to 18.
