The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for public health reported on Thursday that there had been an estimated 5,120 heat-related deaths in Germany so far this year, the majority of which occurred in late June when weekly average temperatures significantly above 20˚C.
Due in large part to their higher proportion of the very elderly, women died at a higher rate than men. The statistics from Germany adds to a bleak image of Europe. With an average temperature of 20.74˚C, Western Europe recorded its hottest June on record, according to a bulletin released by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service on Thursday.During a heat wave, visitors to Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences wait in line at a water fountain to fill their bottles. Reuters
Over 4,700 additional deaths were reported by national authorities in France, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands during the heatwave that occurred from June 20 to June 28. The RKI reports that 2018 and 2019 saw the largest number of heat-related mortality in Germany over the previous ten years, with 8,400 and 6,900 fatalities, respectively.
During a parliamentary debate, Katharina Droege, the leader of the country’s Greens party, stated that 120 people died in the western German city of Cologne alone during the heatwave weekend of June 27–28, which is four times as many as usual.
Despite the growing death toll and continuous attempts by emergency personnel, Droege accused Chancellor Friedrich Merz of failing to remark on the heatwave thus far. She also accused his government of weakening climate protection regulations.
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