News / France

Revealed: Summer 2023 heat killed over 5,000 people in France

Thursday, 08 February 2024 4:09 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 08 February 2024 4:09 PM ]

A man walks past a fountain in Lyon, France during a heat-wave in which temperatures hit nearly 40 degrees C. (Photo by AFP)

French health authorities say more than 5,000 people died in France last year because of the searing summer heat waves.

The summer of 2023, marked by four heat waves including in August and September, was the fourth hottest on record in France, while the year was globally marked as the hottest year on record.

Caroline Semaille, head of France's public health agency Santé Publique France (SPF), on Thursday revealed that 5,167 heat-related deaths were recorded last June, July and August.

She made the revelation as she presented a report on heat-related deaths last year, attributing three out of every 100 fatalities to heat last summer.

In contrast, the year 2022 witnessed approximately 7,000 fatalities linked to heat, with the possibility that the corona virus pandemic also contributed to the number.

A research found that in Europe, the year 2022 came as a disaster, as the heat waves claimed the lives of more than 61,000 people.

This summer, the Olympic Games are supposed to take place in Paris, scheduled from July 26 to August 11. Experts suggest organizers may face challenges due to the possibility of an upcoming extremely hot summer.

Scientists have cautioned that climate change poses an existential peril to the existence of life on our planet.

They have emphasized the intensification of extreme weather occurrences, which are now striking with greater force than ever before.

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