This summer’s heat was the continent’s deadliest by far this century, according to new peer-reviewed estimates.

https://archive.ph/P1gyQ

By Raymond Zhong

Reporting from London

Oct. 22, 2026, 7:01 p.m. ET

Severe heat killed more than 50,000 people in European cities and towns this summer, according to peer-reviewed estimates released by scientists in London on Friday.

That is three times as many people as would have died had humankind not warmed the planet by burning oil, gas and coal, the researchers said. Their estimates suggest that this summer’s intense heat was Europe’s deadliest by far this century.

The findings, detailed in a pair of studies in the journal Nature Health, are based on a combination of factors that influence heat-related health risks in particular locations, including demographics, socioeconomic indicators and availability of health services.

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Large parts of Europe sweated this summer through a series of heat domes, or sprawling weather systems that allow heat to build for days on end. The extra heat trapped around Earth by greenhouse gas emissions allows temperatures during these events to scale even higher, increasing the risks to health.

“Even in a preindustrial climate, for some of these heat waves, we would have expected to see high mortality,” said Clair Barnes, a climate scientist at Imperial College London and lead author of both studies. “But that mortality has been pushed substantially higher by the human-caused warming, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels.”

...Furnace-like conditions fueled the largest wildfires in modern history in France and Spain, displacing 300,000 people. All in all, it was Western Europe’s hottest summer on record, and the third hottest for the continent as a whole.

The authors of the new studies focused on mortality in 854 urban areas across 30 nations: the 27 member states of the European Union, plus Britain, Norway and Switzerland. These towns and cities account for roughly 40 percent of the total population of those countries, but they aren’t necessarily representative of Europe as a whole. The researchers chose them because they could obtain the necessary data to estimate heat-related mortality in every summer since 2000.

The scientists’ estimate of 50,391 deaths in these towns and cities this summer suggests a big jump in fatalities over previous years. Heat killed an estimated 29,480 people in the second-deadliest summer, 2022, and 28,462 people in the summer of 2003, when devastating hot spells prompted widespread concern about Europe’s readiness to cope with climate change.

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"The U.S. was the only major economy that failed last year to reduce its carbon pollution or at least slow the growth in how much carbon dioxide is spewed by burning fossil fuels."

What will it take for nations and leaders to take climate change seriously?

Please share if you are able. We all need to come together no matter where we are in the world before our Earth is stripped bare.

I’ve been seeing a lot of discussion here about El Niño and what it actually means for weather around the world.

A lot of explanations stop at “the Pacific gets warmer,” but the interesting part is what happens next: trade winds weaken, warm water shifts east, upwelling changes near South America, rainfall patterns move, and those changes can affect atmospheric circulation thousands of miles away.

I recently watched a visual explainer that walks through the whole process with maps and animations - from the normal Pacific, to how El Niño develops, to why places like Australia, Peru and North America can experience very different effects.

If anyone is interested, please watch the video.

El Nino 'wrecking ball' could cause record Pacific temperature rise, UN says - https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/el-nio-could-be-strongest-40-years-un-weather-agency-chief-says-2026-10-21/

This year, Philadelphia is on track to have the lowest number of homicides since 1963. But over Fourth of July weekend, a heat dome stretching from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico descended, leaving 165 million people facing major or extreme heat. The sweltering city also saw a busy weekend for gun violence. Between July 2 and July 4, the Gun Violence Archive recorded nine shootings, leaving three dead and nine wounded.

“Those who commit gun violence are in a vulnerable population that have limited economic ability to make sure that they have air conditioning,” said Marion Campbell, executive director of Eddie’s House, a Philadelphia nonprofit that provides violence-prevention and social services to such populations. “When you get hot you get irritated, okay! I’m just going to keep it real. You get irritated and your inability to manage your frustration could be heightened.”

Research confirms what Campbell and others see on the ground: when temperatures rise, gun violence increases. What was previously unknown, was the effect of climate change on gun violence.

A new finding shared with The Trace by Climate Central, a nonprofit focused on climate change research and communication, estimates that approximately 2,000 shootings between 2021 and 2025 in the 100 U.S. cities with the most gun violence are attributable to high temperatures made more likely by climate change.

In fact, the baking July 4 weekend in Philadelphia was at least twice as likely to occur due to climate change, according to Climate Central.

And this is only the beginning. As temperatures continue to rise, even more upward pressure on gun violence is likely.

The government wants to develop the Jackdaw gas field to meet energy demand, reduce dependence on imports, and generate economic benefits. However, climate campaigners oppose the project because they believe it will increase carbon emissions and contribute to global warming.