2023-07-11 17:54:28
Summer 2022 was the hottest season recorded in Europe in recent decades. And a study just published by the Institute of Global Health (Isglobal) of Barcelona in ‘Nature Medicine’ estimates 61,672 premature deaths due to last summer’s heat wave in 35 European countries, with Italy in first place ( 18,010 deaths). The experts of the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (Sima) explain the reasons for what the Spanish researchers found: on the one hand, the share of elderly people in our country, on the other, the effects of smog. Thanks to green spaces and bike sharing, Sima doctors warn, thousands of deaths could be avoided every year in Europe.
“More than 60% of the 61,000 deaths due to extreme heat recorded by the study occurred over the age of 80 and Italy – the experts recall – is the country in Europe which boasts not only the highest percentage of to the general population (6.5% of Italians are over 80), but also the highest number of over 80s, i.e. over 3.5 million people”. Furthermore, “climate change increases the frequency and intensity of heat waves and air stagnation – highlights Alessandro Miani, president of Sima – with consequent repercussions in terms of an increase not only in ozone levels, and therefore in photochemical smog , but also of the levels of atmospheric particulate matter, which in themselves have an impact on mortality”.
“In Italy alone – continues Miani – the European Environment Agency estimates 66,000 premature deaths a year due to fine particles and nitrogen dioxides. The concentrations of fine particles are on average 2.6 µg/m3 higher on days when the air is stagnant. Furthermore, the higher temperatures and the lack of rainfall which characterize the increasingly long dry periods lead to an increased risk of fires, which are in turn one of the main sources of atmospheric particulate matter, with effects visible even hundreds of kilometers from the fire site.Then there are the dust storms, which bring large quantities of atmospheric particulates into the Mediterranean and which increase in intensity and frequency as the soil dries up and the water table lowers caused by global warming and uncontrolled pumping by human activities”.
“The studies conducted by Isglobal of Barcelona – remarked Miani – have shown that as many as 43 thousand deaths a year could be avoided in Europe simply by guaranteeing access to the green spaces established by the WHO (about half a hectare within 300 meters of each house) , while a further 10,000 premature deaths would be avoided with only an increase in bike sharing by a factor of 24%, as per estimates calculated on 167 European cities (out of a total of 75 million people).”
“And we must always remember – concludes President Sima – that planting trees in the city would not only reduce the burden of climate-changing emissions, but would also have a positive impact on human health”.
#Sima #smog #deaths #increasing #thousands #year #avoidable #Europe