ALBAWABA In the summer of 2022, Europe was hit by an unprecedented heatwave that left a devastating impact on the continent.
As temperatures soared to record-breaking levels, the scorching heat claimed the lives of approximately 16,000 individuals across various European countries.
A report from the World Meteorological Organization and the European Climate Change Service revealed that the high heatwaves in the summer of 2022 resulted in the death of 16,305 individuals across Europe.
The European climate change service "Copernicus" and the World Meteorological Organization published an update in their current report, based on a previous study released in April 2023.
The update indicates that the excess deaths associated with heatwaves in Europe accounted for more than half of the total deaths related to various climate-related phenomena worldwide in the same year.
According to EM-DAT data, meteorological, hydrological and climate hazards – storms, floods, wildfires, landslides and extreme temperatures – killed 16,365 people in 2022 and directly affected 156,000 people.
Last year, the temperature on this continent was 2.3 degrees Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial average (1850-1900), used as a reference for the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The document asserts that Europe has warmed to twice the global average since the 1980s, with far-reaching impacts on the region’s socio-economic fabric and ecosystems.
