Study Reveals Europe Heatwave Killed 2,300 People In 10 Days | Climate Change Still Not Real?

0:02 [Music] Hello and welcome. You're watching HT in depth and my name is Aisha Varma. Climate change isn't real. That's the line they've repeated for decades on podiums and headlines, through smirks on social media. But the planet, it's no longer waiting to argue. The temperature is rising. The ice is gone. The oceans are angry. And the skies are filled with smoke. From scorched forests in Canada to flooded streets in Dubai to heat waves baking Europe, Asia, and America, the myth of denial is burning alive. This isn't just weather. This is a warning. This is what happens when science is ignored. And the truth is too hot to handle. The European heat wave,

0:49 which ended last week, wasn't just a sweaty inconvenience. It's estimated that 2,300 people lost their lives to heat linked causes. And here's the plot twist. Researchers from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine say 2/3 of those deaths are directly linked to, wait for it, climate change. That's not just hot air. It's science. And it's based on a 10-day scorcher from June 23rd to July 2nd this year. So, what's the big picture? Climate change isn't just making summers hotter. It's making them longer. Think of it as summer on a never-ending loop, but without the ice

1:34 cream. Earlier, we spoke with Matthew Kapuchi, an author and meteorologist, about this. Listen. That with the background warming climate, we're seeing a little bit extra in the way of heat. In other words, we're pushing regular heat events towards record territory. It would be like if I was playing basketball. Every so often I'd probably get a basket. I'd get a slam dunk. But if the floor was rising, I was suddenly a little bit taller and I'd get more slam dunks. I have an easier time reaching the basket. Same thing here. The atmosphere is warm, but it's getting a little bit warmer. So, we're pushing those events a little bit higher. There will be winners in climate change. If you're in Russia, odds are you love climate change. If you're in Greenland, if you're in Canada, you probably like climate change

2:21 because you're seeing warmer conditions, better for agriculture. If you live in the middle latitudes, you might not like climate change. You're seeing a little bit bit more in the way of severe weather, more hurricane activity in terms of high-end hurricanes. You're seeing more in the way of flooding, and you might not like climate change. So, there will be winners and losers of climate change. Climate change isn't necessarily an all bad thing. It's simply that the conditions are changing and our infrastructure is not built to accommodate those changing conditions. Scientists are unanimous. Heat waves are getting hotter, more frequent, and longer. In Europe, summer is no longer a three-month fling thanks to climate change. Cities like Athens and Tana are

3:07 now hosting summer for up to five months a year, according to a study by Climate Resilience for All. Now, this study looked at temperatures from 2019 to 2023 across 85 cities worldwide. Why exactly are longer summers a problem? Prolonged heat can overwhelm and shut down the body's natural cooling system, leading to heat exhaustion. Think fatigue, dizziness, nausea, and in severe cases, heat stroke, confusion, seizures, organ failure. Basically, your body's SOS signal. High temperatures mean more sweating, which means more dehydration, especially risky for kids and the elderly. Your

3:54 heart has to work overtime to keep you cool, raising the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Hot, humid air and pollution. It's bad news for anyone with asthma or breathing issues. Chronic heat can mess with your kidneys, increasing the risk of stones and even failure. This isn't just Europe's crisis. It's the planets. A global study by World Weather Attribution, Climate Central, and the Red Cross Climate Center found that from May 2024 to May 2025, climate change at least doubled the number of extreme heat days in 195 out of 247 countries and territories. The World Meteorological Organization confirmed in March that 2024 was the

4:41 hottest year on record and the first time that Earth's surface was more than 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial averages. We spoke with Dr. Lawrence, the chief science adviser of Climate Resilience for All. Take a look. The question is, what kind of climate change is causing the heat waves? Because there's several different kinds. Um there's a kind we're all familiar with which is the increase in trace gases in the atmosphere where we have global warming because of more carbon dioxide and other gases. But then there's another one that I happen to think is more important at present and that is the urban heat island effect. Uh urban areas in all parts of the world

5:26 are becoming more densely populated. More people are being crammed into smaller spaces. there is a more widespread use of air conditioning which I believe also contributes to climate change and the urban heat island because think of all the heat that is produced by air conditioning and especially in Europe where there's very little green space uh in the cities and the much of the city is concrete uh this can exacerbate the situation and I think that is one of the major regions reasons why European heat waves have become worse. Cities have to develop adequate intervention activities um in prior to any heat wave occurring so that all of the organizations that are important police, fire, emergency management,

6:14 hospitals and others are ready to deal with a heat wave and many cities do not have adequate intervention plans even if the heat warning systems are good. So there is the improvement of those systems, the heat warning systems and the improvement of what we call intervention measures, what the city does when a heat emergency is called, both of which need to be improved. Most people die of heat, not in the tropics, but in tempered areas where the climate is highly variable. So take a a city like London or Paris. More people die of the heat there than they would, let's say, in Singapore. And the reason is because London and Paris have these variable climates. It's cool, it's cool, it's cool, and then suddenly you get an

6:59 excessively hot event and that creates the problem. Small matters such as greening the city, adding reflective materials, uh even to sidewalks now and to streets. There are people who are painting the streets white in urban areas to reflect more energy away from the city. All of those things are relatively cost effective ways of making urban areas cooler and lessening the dangerous impacts of heat waves. Which countries in Europe were the worst affected? Spain, specifically southern Spain, is basically a sauna with temperatures hitting 46° C or 115° F.

7:48 Red heat warnings are out and sadly so are reports of heat related deaths. France red alerts in the south and the west and the hottest June day ever recorded on June 30th according to Meteor France. Italy multiple regions on red alert with heat stroke cases rising especially among the vulnerable. Greece and Portugal Mediterranean heat waves are in full swing with warnings being issued for residents. And it's not just people feeling the burn. In the Czech Republic, four tons of reservoir fish died not from poison, but from water too warm to handle. Climate change isn't just a people problem. It's an ecosystem crisis.

8:34 Extended summers mess with plant flowering, animal migrations, and breeding cycles, throwing entire food webs into chaos. Agriculture takes a hit. Mismatched seasons mean lower yields. more pests and food security headaches. Wildfires become more frequent and last longer, threatening health, property, and wildlife. Mosquitoes and other disease carrying insects get more time to party, spreading illnesses farther and wider. And if you're thinking, "Well, at least the economy is safe." Think again. The 2025 heatwave is projected to shave 0.5 percentage points off of Europe's

9:19 GDP growth with Spain facing losses as high as 1.4 points. That's like losing half a day of work for every day above 32° C. So the next time someone says that climate change isn't real, just remind them it's so real even the fish are sweating. And if we don't cool things down soon, we might all be looking for shade on Mars. [Music] [Applause]