The climate threat Extreme weather in Europe

Measurements: Warmest June Ever for Western Europe

This year's June was the warmest ever measured in Western Europe, according to figures from the EU's weather agency Copernicus.

The average temperature was 20.74 degrees. That is just over three degrees warmer than the average temperature during the period 1991–2020.

- The climate system continues to store more and more heat. The result is increasingly intense heat waves, a persistently warm ocean and increasing risks for people, ecosystems and infrastructure, says Samantha Burgess, climate scientist at Copernicus.

Heat linked to more than 5,000 deaths in Germany

Germany has had 5,120 heat-related deaths so far this year, writes Süddeutsche Zeitung, citing preliminary figures from the German Robert Koch Institute for Public Health.

Heat is rarely listed as the official cause of death, but the figures are derived using statistical methods. Often it is a matter of the heat having exacerbated underlying diseases.

– The connection between excess mortality and heat is undisputed. Heat leads to more deaths, says Alexandra Schneider, deputy director of the Institute for Epidemiology at the Helmholtz Munich, to Bloomberg.

Most of the deaths occurred during the extreme heat wave in June, when the weekly average temperature was well above 20 degrees.

Two out of three Europeans may have been exposed to ozone in the heat

Two-thirds of the EU population may have been exposed to high levels of ground-level ozone during the severe heat wave at the end of June. This is reported by AFP, citing a new report from the non-profit campaign organization Global Witness.

Among the 300 million people who are feared to have been exposed to high levels, there are around 100 million children and the elderly.

Ground-level ozone can cause respiratory problems and lung damage, among other things.

The report shows that people are “forced to live in very dangerous conditions as a result of our dependence on fossil fuels,” says the organization’s director, Flossie Boyd.