Since 1980, extreme weather has killed 195,000 people in Europe

Since 1980, extreme weather conditions in Europe have caused more than 560 billion euros in economic losses and nearly 195,000 deaths, according to the European Environment Agency.

In its report, the EAA stated, "Nearly 195,000 fatalities have been caused by floods, storms, heat- and coldwaves, forest fires, and landslides" between 1980 and 2021.

Only 170 billion euros, or 30 percent, of the 560 billion euros ($605 billion) in losses were insured, the EEA said as it launched a new online portal compiling recent data on the impact of extreme weather.

EEA expert Aleksandra Kazmierczak told AFP, "To prevent further losses, we must immediately shift from responding to extreme weather events...to proactively preparing for them."

According to the most recent statistics, heatwaves were responsible for 81% of deaths and 15% of economic losses.

The EEA stated that Europe must take precautions to protect its aging population, as the elderly are particularly sensitive to extreme heat.

"The vast majority of national adaptation policies and health strategies acknowledge the effects of heat on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. "However, less than half address the direct effects of heat, such as dehydration and heat stroke," it states.

Due to repeated heatwaves, there were more deaths than usual in Europe during the summer of 2022, but these deaths were not included in the data released on Wednesday.

The EEA reported that there were 53,000 more deaths in July 2022 than the monthly average for 2016-2019, an increase of 16 percent. However, not all of these deaths were directly attributable to the heat.

In the months of June, July, and August, Spain recorded over 4,600 deaths due to the extreme heat.

Climate modeling has predicted that future heatwaves will be longer, more intense, and more frequent.

The EAA reported in February 2022 that extreme weather had killed 142,000 people and caused 510 billion euros in damages between 1980 and 2020.

The increase in the figures released on Wednesday was attributable in part to the fact that in 2021, flooding in Germany and Belgium caused nearly 50 billion euros in economic losses.

The EEA stated that a change in methodology in France and Germany was responsible for the significant variation in mortality rates.

- 'Devastating consequences' -

According to the EEA, human-caused climate change increased the risk of drought by a factor of five or six in 2022, a year in which forest fires destroyed twice as much land as in recent years.

Droughts could become very expensive.

If the planet warms by 1.5 degrees Celsius, economic losses could increase from nine billion euros per year currently to 25 billion euros by the end of the century.

According to scientific scenarios, this could increase to 31 billion euros if the temperature rises by 2 degrees Celsius and to 45 billion euros if the temperature rises by 3 degrees Celsius.

The EEA warned that the effects on agriculture could be "devastating."

Farmers can mitigate the negative effects of rising temperatures and droughts by modifying crop varieties, sowing dates, and irrigation patterns, according to the report.

According to the report, yields and farm incomes are projected to decrease in the future if nothing is done.

In spite of the fact that human losses from flooding are much lower, accounting for only 2% of the total, they are the most expensive, accounting for 56% of economic losses.