Heat Wave In Europe

Warning: Undefined array key "file" in /var/www/html/wp-includes/media.php on line 1712

Deprecated: preg_match(): Passing null to parameter #2 ($subject) of type string is deprecated in /var/www/html/wp-includes/media.php on line 1712

Table of Contents

•Climate change resulting from human activities made the current Europe-wide heatwave more than twice as likely to occur.
•”signal of climate change is unambiguous,” in this summer’s heat.

So what exactly is a heatwave?
• There are several different definitions of what exactly makes a heatwave but the researchers in this study have gone with the hottest consecutive three-day period in a year.
• “But we’ve looked at longer periods and it doesn’t change the result very much.”Can they tell us when another heatwave will strike
Europe?
• estimate that in southern Scandinavia it’s likely there will be a similar heatwave every 10 years, while further south, in the Netherlands, it’s likely to be once every five years. This ties in with projections from several scientists that the type of heatwave we’ve had this summer could occur every second year by the 2040s.
“the world is becoming warmer, and so heatwaves like this are becoming more common,” rd.
What was once regarded as unusually warm weather will become commonplace – in some cases, it already has
The major European heatwave of 2003 was among the first events to be linked though it took scientists several years to do it – eventually they concluded that human induced climate change had made the event 500% more likely!
The current heatwave could become the new normal for UK summers by 2040 because of climate change
The Environmental Audit Committee warns of 7,000 heat-related deaths every year in the UK by 2050 if the government doesn’t act quickly.
Higher temperatures put some people at increased risk of dying from cardiac, kidney and respiratory diseases.
The MPs say ministers must act to protect people – especially with an ageing population in the UK.
Scientists differ on whether the current global rash of heatwaves is definitely caused by climate change.
But all agree that future heatwaves will be hotter and more frequent thanks to carbon emissions.
The MPs highlight a warning from the Met Office that UK summer temperatures could regularly reach 38.5C by the 2040s.
How can people be protected?
The government says it is committed to cutting carbon emissions, although it is not on track to meet its targets.
The MPs say current plans will not stop buildings overheating, and ministers should be smarter about heat-proofing the UK.
Tougher rules are needed to ensure homes and transport networks can deal with extreme heat.
And local councils should plant trees and keep green spaces to provide cool air Analysis by BBC Reality Check
Following the heatwave in August 2003, statisticians linked 2,091 deaths to the unusually high temperatures.
Heat isn’t a cause that appears on anyone’s death certificate. So how do we measure the death-toll of a heatwave?
We don’t know that heat was a factor in all of those deaths – just that there were that many more deaths than the average for the same period over the previous five years.
Researchers used this 2,091 figure as a baseline when calculating how many more people could die in heatwaves by 2050. They estimated there would be an increase of more than 200%, giving the 7,000 figure.

How should offices and schools adapt?

High heat reduces productivity. Workers arriving sweating to the office take time before they’re ready to do the job. People working outside find themselves doing less and needing more breaks.
Public Health England should tell employers to relax dress codes and allow flexible working in heatwaves.

Should we fear heat island?

Cities can be up to 10C hotter than the surrounding countryside because hard surfaces absorb heat during the day and give out heat at night. This is the heat island effect. • . • Yet the government’s planning framework makes no mention of the heat island effect. • The report calls for towns and cities to be adapted to more frequent heatwaves
The committee says the government’s heatwave alert system runs only from June to September, so vulnerable people will not be warned about unseasonal heatwaves.
The MPs heard that alerts are put out only if approximately 30°C is reached, even though Public Health England said heat-related deaths began at upwards of 25°C