Europe increasingly warmerThe European region is the fastest warming of the six World Health Organization regions, with temperatures rising at about double the global average rate. Since 2020, the region has seen three hottest years on record, and residents are paying the highest price. There have been 176,040 deaths per year between 2000 and 2019 due to extreme heat36% of deaths due to rising temperatures worldwide, 489 thousand. The alarm was raised by the director of WHO Europe, Hans Kluge, a few days after the appeal by the Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres to act against the climate crisis.
The four critical areas of intervention, preventing health effects is a key point
Four critical areas of intervention, highlighted by Gutierres: caring for the vulnerable, protecting workers, increasing the resilience of economies and societies and limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C. “This could not be more relevant for the European Region,” Kluge stresses, “where there has been a 30% increase in heat-related mortality over the past 20 years, with increased deaths in almost all countries in the region where monitoring is ongoing.” Extreme heat stress is “the leading cause of climate-related death in the region,” he points out. “Extreme temperatures exacerbate chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular, respiratory and cerebrovascular diseases, worsen mental health and diabetes-related disorders.”
The increasingly frequent heat waves are “a problem especially for the elderly, especially those who live alone, and also for pregnant women”. The director of WHO Europe recalls that “The negative health effects of global warming are largely preventable through good public health practices: if we are better prepared for a warmer European region, we will save many lives, now and in the future”, Kluge concluded, announcing that “WHO Europe, through our European Centre for Environment and Health, is currently developing a second updated edition of the guidelines for developing heat action plans. This will provide an evidence-based reference point for national and local governments to develop or update their plans. We must strengthen coordinated action to protect our health from the most direct and deadly impacts of climate change”.
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