As global temperatures rise, countries are seeing an increase in heat-related deaths. Euronews Health spoke to an expert to learn how to avoid being put at risk. As global temperatures soar, many countries around the world are experiencing extreme heat which has led to an increase in heat-related fatalities.
In Saudi Arabia, it was announced that more than 1,300 people died during the Hajj pilgrimage this month. Many cases of death were due to heat stress, as temperatures in Mecca, the city where the Hajj pilgrimage takes place, as high as 50 degrees Celsius. A similar pattern has been observed in Europe, where many countries are raising the alarm about upcoming heatwaves and advising people to take necessary precautions, as some are already recording deaths because of the high temperatures.
In Greece, for instance, three tourists were in a week which saw temperatures reaching 43 degrees Celsius. To tackle this, many countries in Europe, especially those most at risk of heatwaves, are racing to implement emergency plans. This is not a new occurrence for the continent, registering high numbers of heat-related fatalities in recent years, especially during the summer.
from last year has shown that an estimated 61,672 people in Europe died of heat-related causes between May and September in the year 2022 alone. Camilo Mora, a climate scientist and professor from the University of Hawaii, has studied how heat can become fatal. In a paper he co-authored, Mora identified people coul.
