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Europe’s Heatwave Death Toll Rising

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

ATHENS/ROME/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Tragedies struck several nations as a European heatwave was blamed for violent storms and wildfires in Greece as well as in Sicily, Italy, Algeria, and Tunisia, killing several people.

Among the latest known victims were two Greek air force pilots who died after their plane crashed while fighting wildfires on the Greek island of Evia, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

The water-bombing plane crashed while battling a forest fire near Platanistos, the defense ministry said.

The pilots were identified as 34-year-old Cdr Christos Moulas and his co-pilot, 27-year-old Pericles Stefanidis.

Extreme weather has been battering Italy from north to south. Wildfires are raging in Sicily after weeks of record-breaking temperatures, with local media warning that the city of Palermo is “encircled” by fires.

Elsewhere the northern regions were reeling from violent storms and high winds that uprooted trees and lifted roofs off buildings.

In some places, tennis ball-sized hailstones injured people, damaged cars, and destroyed crops.

TEENAGER KILLED

A 16-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell on the tent she was sleeping in at a summer camp near the city of Brescia, authorities said. Additionally, a middle-aged woman died after being hit by a falling tree in Lissone, north of the Italian city of Milan.

Experts warned that extreme heat could severely threaten life, especially among the elderly. More than 61,000 people were estimated to have died by experts from heat-related causes during last year’s heatwaves in Europe.

The tragedies come amid an ongoing debate about whether human-induced climate change is to blame. While skeptical scientists express doubts, other experts warn that the heatwaves battering Europe and the United States in July would have been “virtually impossible” without people impacting the climate.

Global warming from burning fossil fuels also made the heatwave affecting parts of China 50 times more likely, claimed scientists cooperating in the World Weather Attribution initiative. “In China, it would have been about a 1 in 250-year event while maximum heat like in July 2023 would have been virtually impossible to occur in the U.S./Mexico region and Southern Europe if humans had not warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels,” they said in a study published Monday.

Yet in anticipation of the winter season in countries now experiencing a hot summer, they also said: “Unusual cold spells can occur even in a warming world. And cause disruption to transport, energy, and food supplies.”

“Heat is among the deadliest types of disaster,” said Julie Arrighi from the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and one of the study’s authors.

She urged countries now experiencing heatwaves to build heat-resistant homes, create “cool centers” for people to find shelter, and find ways to cool cities, including planting more trees.