Extreme weather events such as heat waves and floods have killed an estimated 195,000 people and nearly €560 billion in Europe since 1980, according to the European Environment Agency.
The European environment revealed that “extreme meteorological phenomena, including heat waves and floods, caused economic losses estimated at 560 billion euros in the European Union between 1980 and 2021, of which only 170 billion (30%) are insured” and caused 195 thousand deaths. person. an agency.
The entity has made available a new ‘online’ portal that collects the latest data on the impact of these events.
In February last year, the balance sheet provided by the European entity amounted to 510 billion euros and 142 thousand deaths, between 1980 and 2020.
In 2021, the cost of flooding in Germany and Belgium will be close to 50 billion euros.
The European Environment Agency explained that the reason for the large discrepancy in the number of casualties was a change in the methodology used in France and Germany.
“To avoid further losses, we urgently need to move from responding to extreme weather events (…) to proactive preparedness,” the French news agency quoted Alexandra Kazmirchak, an expert at the European Environment Agency, as saying.
Heatwaves are responsible for 81% of deaths and 15% of financial losses.
Last year’s summer, which was marked by a series of heatwaves, saw a higher than usual number of deaths across Europe, not yet included in the calculations.
According to the European Environment Agency, in July last year there were 53,000 more deaths than the monthly averages for 2016-2019, not all of which were directly attributed to heat.
Spain recorded more than 4,600 extreme heat-related deaths between June and August.
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