Climate Increase in heat deaths will outweigh decrease in cold deaths

The growing number of heat-related deaths due to climate change will significantly outweigh the decline in the number of cold-related deaths in Europe, according to a study. Climate change will also have a negative impact on the total number of temperature-related deaths in Switzerland.

In view of rising temperatures, it is important to understand the relationship between heat- and cold-related mortality, the international research team wrote in the study published on Monday in the journal "Nature Medicine".

The study looked at 854 cities in 30 European countries, including Swiss cities, to determine how the number of premature deaths caused by cold and heat will develop as climate change progresses.

According to the researchers' estimates, global warming could lead to over 2.3 million additional temperature-related deaths in the cities studied by 2099. However, climate protection and adaptation measures could prevent up to 70 percent of these additional deaths.

SDA