Overview
- Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine released the estimate on September 17 based on 854 cities covering roughly one-third of Europe’s population during June to August.
- Researchers calculate that human-driven warming raised local summer temperatures by an average of 2.2°C, reaching up to 3.6°C in some cities.
- Older people bore the brunt of the toll, with about 85% of the additional deaths occurring among those aged 65 and over.
- Country estimates indicate the largest attributable tolls in Italy (4,597), Spain (2,841), Germany (1,477) and France (1,444), with city figures including Rome (~835), Athens (~630) and Paris (~409).
- The authors characterize the work as a rapid attribution study that is not yet peer reviewed, outside experts say the methods are scientifically cautious and the real toll could be higher, and the team urges faster emissions cuts plus stronger heat-protection measures.