Human-made global warming caused two in three heat deaths in Europe this summer'

"The rapid analysis, which relies on established methods but has not yet been submitted for peer review, found climate breakdown made the cities 2.2C hotter on average, greatly increasing the death toll from dangerously warm weather. The causal chain from fossil fuel burning to rising heat and increased mortality is undeniable, said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London and a co-author of the report."

"Older people were hit hardest by punishing temperatures, the study found, with 85% of the dead over the age of 65, and 41% over the age of 85. The vast majority of heat deaths happen in homes and hospitals, where people with existing health conditions are pushed to their limits, said Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London and co-author of the study. But heat is rarely mentioned on death certificates."

Epidemiological analysis across 854 large European cities estimates 24,400 heat-related deaths from June to August, with roughly 16,500 attributable to human-caused extra warming. The cities were on average 2.2°C hotter because of greenhouse gases, substantially increasing mortality during the hottest months. Older adults were disproportionately affected: 85% of deaths were among people over 65 and 41% over 85. Most fatalities occurred in homes and hospitals among people with existing health conditions. Local temperature–mortality relationships were used to compare observed outcomes with a hypothetical no-climate-change scenario.

Read at www.theguardian.com