Heat Killed 50,000 People in Europe’s Cities, Two-Thirds Due to Climate Change
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The summer of 2026 was not only the hottest on record but also the deadliest: Heat cut short the lives of more than 50,000 people in 854 European cities, according to two new studies in the journal Nature Health. Researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Imperial College London attribute almost two-thirds of them, 32,619 deaths, to human-caused climate change, as the Guardian reports. Without global warming, the toll would have been around 18,000.
Nearly Twice as Deadly as 2003 and 2022
The figure is more than 70 percent higher than in the previous record summers of 2003 and 2022. The additional deaths caused by climate change alone exceed the total heat-related mortality of either of those years. According to the study, climate change’s share of heat deaths has risen from about 40 percent at the start of the century to 65 percent this summer. Perhaps even more alarming than the absolute numbers is the proportion of deaths attributable to human-caused climate change, said Malcolm Mistry of the LSHTM, a co-author of the study.
The study in detail:
- Countries: The highest death tolls were in Italy (13,303), France (7,268), Spain (6,824), Germany (6,340) and Britain (4,354). Relative to population, Malta, Italy and Hungary were hit hardest.
- Cities: Naples topped the list with 815 heat deaths per million inhabitants.
- Age: Almost half of the victims, 22,502 people, were over 85. About 6,000 were younger than 65, including 833 people between 20 and 44.
- Heatwave: Almost a third of the deaths occurred during the heatwave from mid-June to early July, when temperatures averaged 5.3 degrees Celsius above normal.
The cities studied cover only about 40 percent of the population of the E.U., Britain, Norway and Switzerland. Smaller towns and rural areas are not included, so the actual toll is likely to be considerably higher.
Austria Sets a Grim Record
Austria was affected too. In Vienna, Graz, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck and Klagenfurt, 787 people died from the effects of heat during the three summer months, according to an analysis of the study data by the Wiener Zeitung, about two-thirds of them in Vienna. That puts Austria’s cities at 329 heat deaths per million inhabitants. For the country as a whole, the health agency AGES had already estimated 995 heat-related deaths between June and August, the highest number since its monitoring began in 2017. The previous record was set in the summer of 2024, with 948 deaths.
Loneliness and Poverty Make Things Worse
Social problems often lie behind the numbers. Mario Guarino, an emergency doctor in Naples, reported a 15 percent increase in emergency room visits during the hottest weeks. Many elderly people are left alone in the summer and cannot afford air-conditioning or the electricity to run it. For Dr. Guarino, loneliness is the real epidemic of these days. Doctors are therefore calling not only for an end to fossil fuels, but also for stronger health systems, greener cities, air-conditioning and neighbors checking in on vulnerable people. Start-ups are also working on affordable cooling, such as Vienna-based Social Cooling with an air conditioner that needs no exhaust hose.
Estimates, Not Counted Deaths
The method is not without its critics. The researchers combined established relationships between temperature and mortality with temperature data from the summer of 2026 to produce a rapid estimate. As a result, the findings differ from the calculations of national health agencies. David García-García of Spain’s Carlos III Health Institute called the study a valuable contribution because it allows comparisons across Europe. However, he stressed that the figures are model-based estimates that do not include actual reported deaths from the summer. In addition, more people in Europe still die from cold than from heat. The researchers expect, however, that heat deaths will rise faster than cold deaths decline.
