JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the heat wave sweeping Europe is a sign of what the continent will likely face in the years to come, stressing that summers will get worse as climate change accelerates.
WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said the current heatwave was only a "prelude" to the future, noting that Europe was warming more than twice the global average and heatwaves were becoming more frequent, intense and prolonged.
He warned that a lack of preparedness for such extreme weather events would result in higher death tolls and greater human losses, quoted from WAFA (2/7).
Previously, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that the ongoing heat wave has so far resulted in more than 1,300 additional deaths.
Kluge also highlighted the increasing pressure on the health care system, noting that calls to emergency medical services have increased by 50 percent in some cities in France.
Meanwhile, London recorded the highest number of life-threatening emergency calls in a single day, while Spain reported more than 300 heat-related deaths in recent days, and Italy announced five heat-related deaths in a 24-hour period.
Although temperatures are beginning to ease in some areas, more than 95 million people across eastern and southern Europe continue to experience temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius, with meteorologists predicting another heatwave will begin this weekend.
In the Mediterranean, the northwestern basin experienced what scientists described as a historic marine heatwave, with average sea temperatures rising about 5.2 degrees Celsius above normal, according to the Spanish Institute of Marine Sciences, which attributed the phenomenon to the extraordinary heat wave that hit Europe.
Scientists warn rising sea temperatures increase the risk of extreme weather events, including storms and floods, while studies show the world's oceans have absorbed around 90 percent of the extra heat generated by human activity since the start of the industrial era.
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