Notícia

Australian Science Media Centre (Austrália)

Heatwaves lead to more than 150,000 deaths a year (22 notícias)

Publicado em 15 de maio de 2024

Heatwaves over the four hottest months of the year lead to more than 150,000 deaths around the world each year, according to research led by Monash University which looked at deaths over 30 years going back to 1990. The authors say this equates to 236 deaths per 10 million residents or around 1% of all deaths. The authors say this suggests that heatwaves account for about 30% of all heat-related deaths each year, suggesting protecting people during heatwaves could be a cost-effective strategy given that heatwaves only occur on a limited number of days each year. For Australia and New Zealand, the authors estimate there were 137 deaths per 10 million residents each summer. The study found that heatwave-related excess death ratio and rate were the highest in locations with polar and alpine climates and the lowest in tropical areas.

Funder: QZ was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (42205179), Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province in China (ZR2021QH318), Shandong Excellent Young Scientists Fund Program (Overseas) (2022HWYQ- 055), Taishan Scholar Foundation of Shandong Province (tsqn202306063); SL was supported by an Emerging Leader Fellowship of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (GNT2009866); AG was supported by the Medical Research Council UK (grant ID MR V034162/1) and EU’s Horizon 2020 project, Exhaustion (grant ID 820655); ST was supported by the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (grant number 18411951600); AU was supported by Czech Science Foundation (project number 22- 24920S); FdD was supported by EU’s Horizon 2020 project, Exhaustion (grant ID 820655); PHNS was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP); YG was supported by Leader Fellowship of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (GNT2008813); VH received funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions program (Grant Agreement No.: 101032087); AMVC acknowledges funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (TMSGI3_211626). The funders had no role in considering the study design or in the collection, analysis, interpretation of data, writing of the report, or decision to submit the article for publication.

Media release

From:

More than 150,000 people per year are estimated to have died from heatwaves around the globe and the new study reveals regional disparities in heatwave deaths

Between 1990 and 2019, more than 150,000 deaths around the globe were associated with heatwaves each year, according to a new study published May 14 th in PLOS Medicine by Yuming Guo of Monash University, Australia, and colleagues.

Heatwaves, periods of extremely high ambient temperature that last for a few days, can impose overwhelming thermal stress on the human body. Studies have previously quantified the effect of individual heatwaves on excess deaths in local areas, but have not compared these statistics around the globe over such a prolonged period.

In the new study, researchers used data from the Multi-Country Multi-City (MCC) Collaborative Research Network that included daily deaths and temperatures from 750 locations across 43 countries. With the MCC data, the researchers estimated excess heatwave deaths around the world spanning 1990 to 2019 and mapped the variance in these deaths across continents.

During the warm seasons from 1990 to 2019, heatwave-related excess deaths accounted for 153,078 deaths per year, a total of 236 deaths per ten million residents or 1% of global deaths. While Asia had the highest number of estimated deaths, Europe had the highest population-adjusted rate, at 655 deaths per ten million residents. A substantial burden of estimated deaths was seen in southern and eastern Europe as well as the area between Northern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Southern Asia. At the national level, Greece, Malta, and Italy had the highest excess death ratios. Overall, the largest estimated rates of heatwaves deaths were seen in areas with dry climates and lower-middle incomes. Understanding the regional disparity of heatwave-related mortality is key to planning local adaptation and risk management towards climate change.

“Heatwaves are associated with substantial mortality burden that varies spatiotemporally over the globe in the past 30 years,” the authors say. “These findings indicate the potential benefit of government actions to enhance health sector adaptation and resilience, accounting for inequalities across communities.”

The authors add, “In the context of climate change, it is crucial to address the unequal impacts of heatwaves on human health. This necessitates a comprehensive approach that not only tackles immediate health risks during heatwaves but also implements long-term strategies to minimize vulnerability and inequality. The strategies include: climate change mitigation policy, heat action plans (e.g., heat early warning system), urban planning and green structure, social support program, healthcare and public health services, education awareness, and community engagement and participation.”