Topline
Central and southern regions of Italy saw a 7% spike in deaths over the normal rate in July, data from the country’s Health Ministry shows, after a heat wave triggered wildfires and severe storms as nations across the world continue to deal with changing weather patterns due to climate change.
Key Facts
Data from the health ministry show record temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) have caused more fatalities in those 75 and over during the month of July when compared to the average death rate recorded in the same period from 2015 to 2019.
Cities such as Bari, Catania and Reggio Calabria faced the brunt of the effects of the extreme heat and saw elevated mortality rates, according to the health ministry.
Meanwhile, cities in the northern part of the country, which were less exposed to the extreme heat, saw a lower mortality rate down 14% when compared to the average death rate recorded in the same period from 2015 to 2019, according to the health ministry.
Firefighters in Sardina are currently battling more than 50 wildfires forcing some 600 people to evacuate, according to EuroNews.
Big Number
118 degrees. That’s how hot it was in Sardinia at one point in July, breaking heat records for the city, according to the New York Times. Rome also broke their record reaching 107 degrees in July, the Times reported.
Key Background
The summer heat has hit southern Europe hard. Countries including Italy, Greece, Croatia, Portugal and Spain have seen the effects of extreme heat the past few months. Extreme heat has caused flooding, hail storms and fires throughout the summer and led the Italian Health Ministry to place the country under red-alert heat warnings during the middle of the month warning residents of the dangers behind the high temperatures. Two hailstone records were obliterated after high winds tore through Milan last month. Winds reached above 63 mph on July 19 with hail measuring more than six inches decimating the town of Carmignano di Brenta. On July 24 another storm hit Azzano Decimo with hail measuring more than seven inches. In Mortegliano, a storm that same day that also brought large hail decimated the entire town leaving some $87 million in damage, according to the Guardian.
Surprising Fact
More than 61,000 people died in Europe last summer during the heat wave, a study published in the journal Nature Medicine found.
Extreme Weather Hits Europe, And It’s Not Over Yet (New York Times)
‘The Extreme Events Scare Me The Most’: Climatologist Warns Of Italy’s Vulnerability To Climate Crisis (The Guardian)
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