Heat-related deaths are on the rise in Europe as the effects of climate crisis take hold

euronews (in English)

Experts say governments across Europe need to make sure their healthcare systems and infrastructures are adapting to cope with drastic climatic change.

Transcript

00:00Europe is warming at twice the rate of the global average, and this is leading to a whole

00:17range of different health impacts. In Europe, heat-related mortality is a particular problem,

00:27given the elderly, the ageing population in Europe. We're also seeing impacts of climate

00:32change, changing the risk of local transmission of infectious diseases such as dengue, West

00:39Nile virus, leishmaniasis, as the climate conditions become more suitable for the disease.

00:45And we're also seeing more and more travel between Europe and areas experiencing endemic

00:52transmission of several infectious diseases which are of relevance to Europe.

00:57Well, we're seeing, for example, in the case of leishmaniasis, we're seeing a northward shift

01:15of the area of Europe which is now suitable for the transmission of leishmaniasis. We're

01:21also seeing, particularly in northern Europe, increases in the length of the transmission

01:27season suitable for ticks. And in the case of mosquito-borne disease, particularly the

01:33mosquitoes, the Aedes albopictus mosquitoes that can transmit dengue, Zika and chikungunya,

01:40we're seeing increases in the suitability for this mosquito in large parts of Europe,

01:46particularly in southern Europe, but spreading further north.

01:51It's only a matter of time before the climate conditions become more suitable across large

02:04parts of Europe. And unless action is taken to improve the resilience of the European

02:09societies to resist local transmission of these diseases, then we could be facing a

02:14serious problem.

Category

Transcript

Recommended