Over 50,000 killed in Europe over summer due to worst heat wave on record

The Jerusalem Post · JERUSALEM POST STAFF · 2026-10-25 11:36 UTC

The analysis found that fossil fuel pollution-driven climate change accounts for about two-thirds of modern heat-related deaths, compared with around 40% earlier this century.

Over 50,000 people were killed this past summer in Europe due to a brutal heat wave, marking it as the deadliest the continent has ever faced, CNN reported on Friday.

The report cited a new analysis published in two peer-reviewed papers in the journal Nature Health that attributed over half of the deaths to climate change driven by fossil fuel pollution.

According to the journal, temperatures reached levels 2.9 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, with some areas seeing periodic temperatures over 12 degrees Celsius above the average.

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