Half of European heat-related deaths in summer 2022 caused by human-induced global warming

Human-induced warming was twice as high in southern regions as in rest of Europe, new study suggests

Tourists shelter from the sun during a heatwave in Ronda, southern Spain, in August. AFP

More than half of heat-related deaths in the summer of 2022 were related to human-induced global warming, according to new research.

Some 56 per cent, or 38,154, of the 68,593 heat-related deaths in the summer of 2022 would not have occurred without human-related global warming.

The findings of the study, by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), have been published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science and show that the number of heat-related deaths per million people attributed to human-induced warming was twice as high in the southern regions compared to the rest of Europe.

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The team found that women were more affected by heat-related deaths attributed to climate change (22,501 out of 37,983 deaths), as well as people aged over 80 (23,881 out of 38,978 deaths). Less affected were men (14,026 out of 25,385 deaths) and people aged 64 years or less (2,702 out of 5,565 deaths).

“This study sheds light on the extent to which global warming impacts public health," Thessa Beck, an ISGlobal researcher and the study's first author, said. "While we observe an increase of heat-related mortality across nearly all the countries analysed, not everyone is affected equally, with women and the elderly particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of rising temperatures."

The study notes that temperatures in Europe are rising twice as quickly as the global average, exacerbating health impacts. Global warming didn't only increase warm weather deaths in the exceptionally hot summer of 2022 – research shows that between 44 per cent and 54 per cent of heat-related summer mortality between 2015 and 2021 can be attributed to it. This equates to between 19,000 and 28,000 deaths annually.

The figures for 2022 show an alarming 40 per cent increase in heat-related mortality and a two-thirds increase in deaths attributed to human-related global warming.

“Our study urgently calls on governments and national authorities in Europe to increase the ambition and effectiveness of surveillance and prevention measures, new adaptation strategies, and global mitigation efforts," Joan Ballester Claramunt, principal investigator of the European Research Council (ERC) consolidator grant EARLY-ADAPT said. "Without strong action, record temperatures and heat-related mortality will continue to rise in the coming years."