Extreme heat caused by the climate
crisis risks causing over 2.3 million deaths in Europe's cities
by the end of the century, according to a study by the London
School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, published Nature
Medicine, and Italy cities are among those set to be hit
hardest.
Rome is second in the list for heat deaths with an estimated
147,738, behind Barcelona with 246,082, according to the study.
Napoli is third with 147,248, Milan fifth with 110,131 and Genoa
10th with 36,338.
"Our findings highlight the urgent need to aggressively pursue
both climate change mitigation and adaptation to rising heat,"
said Pierre Masselot, the author of the study.
"This is particularly critical in the Mediterranean region
where, if action is not taken, the consequences could be
disastrous.
"But, by following a more sustainable path, we could avoid
millions of deaths before the end of the century".
Scientists say the climate crisis caused by human greenhouse gas
emissions is making extreme weather events such as heatwaves,
droughts, supercharged storms and flooding more frequent and
more intense.
Italy has experienced a long series of such events in recent
years.
Last year intense heatwaves and extreme droughts impacted
southern regions, with Sicily and Sardinia hit especially
severely, while heavy rainfall led to flooding in Piedmont,
Emilia-Romagna and Marche, prompting the authorities to declare
a state of emergency.
Although there are many sources of the greenhouse gases that are
causing global heating, the main driver is the burning of fossil
fuels such as oil, gas and coal, sales of which generate huge
profits for the world's energy giants.
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