"Climate change is responsible for about two-thirds of the additional deaths related to heat, researchers estimate."
"The heat waves that baked Europe this summer were likely the continent’s deadliest on record, and climate change was primarily responsible, researchers at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine found in two recent peer-reviewed studies.
About 50,000 more people died in European cities between June and August than would have if temperatures had not been abnormally hot, researchers estimate. The figures are 71 percent higher than in 2022, the second-deadliest year, which researchers said is likely due to just how widespread and extreme the heat domes were across Europe this summer.
Of those estimated additional deaths, about two-thirds would not have occurred if the climate were not warming, the researchers calculated. The papers were accepted for publication in the journal Nature Health, and one published earlier this month.
The findings “clearly highlight the danger from human-caused warming and the need for rapid emissions reductions,” said Clair Barnes, a statistician and climate change researcher at Imperial College London, who is a lead author of the studies."
Erin Douglas reports for the Washington Post October 22, 2026.
SEE ALSO:
"Heat Waves Killed an Estimated 50,000 in European Cities, a Likely Record" (New York Times)
