Over 5,000 Died In France Due To 2023 Summer Heat

The summer of 2023 was the warmest on record in France, with four heatwaves, including those in August and September.

Health officials said on Thursday that over 5,000 individuals lost their lives in France last year as a result of the intense summer heat.

 The head of France’s public health service, Caroline Semaille, told reporters at the presentation of a report on heat-related mortality in the previous year that “everyone has been affected.”

The summer of 2023 was the warmest on record in France, with four heatwaves, including those in August and September.

Additionally, 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded worldwide.

According to France’s public health agency, 5,167 deaths — or three out of every 100 fatalities — were attributable to heat last summer. Of the deaths, around 3,700 were aged over 75.

The extreme heat has been straining healthcare systems, hitting older people, infants and children.

By comparison, nearly 7,000 deaths were attributable to heat in 2022, even though the coronavirus pandemic might have played a role as well.

The country has put in place strict heatwave guidelines after an estimated 15,000 people died during the disastrous summer of 2003.

France is hosting the Olympic Games in Paris from July 26 to August 11, and experts say a blistering summer could spell trouble for organisers.

Scientists have warned that climate change poses an existential threat to life on Earth, pointing to extreme weather events that are hitting more ferociously than before.