More than 61,000 deaths from heat in Europe in the summer of 2022 – mainly older women hit German car manufacturers in depro mode – has consequences for Swiss suppliers

According to a study in Europe, the heat waves in the summer of 2022 killed more than 61,000 people. In the days of July 18 to 24, 2022 alone, 11,637 people across Europe died from the heat, according to a study published Monday in the journal “Nature Medicine”.

According to the study, from May 30 to September 4, 2022, there were 61,672 heat-related deaths. Especially women over 80 were among the victims. It is the first time that the number of heat deaths from last summer has been quantified.

The EU statistics agency Eurostat already noted an unusually high excess mortality last summer, but did not provide information about what role the heat played in this.

appeal to politicians

The study’s authors are urging politicians to take action: “Given the magnitude of heat-related mortality across the continent, our results call for a reassessment and strengthening of heat monitoring platforms, prevention plans and long-term adaptation strategies.”

Without appropriate protection measures, there will be an average of 68,000 heat-related deaths annually from 2030, according to the study by the French state health research institute Inserm and the Spanish institute ISGlobal. Experts predict that the number of victims could rise to more than 94,000 by 2040.

Measures to reduce the risk

“This is a very high number of deaths,” said Hicham Achebak of the Inserm Institute. “While we knew the impact of heat waves on mortality as of 2003, this analysis shows that we need to do a lot more to protect people,” he said. If the right measures were taken, the risk could be significantly reduced.

In 2003, an estimated 70,000 people died as a result of heat waves in Europe. However, it is difficult to compare the numbers because they are not collected in the same way.

2.3 degrees more in Switzerland

Last summer’s heat waves surpassed many previous highs and led to wildfires and droughts. According to the study, France recorded the highest increase in average temperature last summer with 2.43 degrees from the years 1991 to 2020, followed by Switzerland with 2.3 degrees and Italy with 2.28 degrees.

When it comes to heat-related deaths, Italy leads with some 18,010 deaths, followed by Spain with 11,324 deaths. For the study, the institutes evaluated data from more than 800 regions in 35 countries. Among them were a total of more than 540 million people. Europe is the continent with the strongest temperature increase due to global climate change.

Eckart von Hirschhausen, German moderator and founder of the Healthy Earth Healthy People Foundation (GEGM), said: “Summer – you used to look forward to it. Today, with each new heat wave, it becomes clearer what a high health price we pay.”

The current study highlights the urgent need for heat protection plans, Hirschhausen said. “This data is a wake-up call for politicians to take climate protection as health protection seriously, reduce emissions as quickly as possible and fund urgent adjustments for more resilient healthcare institutions.” (sda/afp/dpa)