Over 1,100 heat-related deaths in Milan this summer

Milan, 17 September (LaPresse) – There have been over 1,100 heat-related deaths in Milan this summer. Literally. According to a new study on deaths caused by excessive heat in Europe, researchers at Imperial College and the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London have estimated that this summer, from June to August, 1,156 people died in Milan, 835 in Rome, 579 in Naples and 230 in Turin. These deaths were due to “the impact of climate change on temperatures”; in other words, deaths that would not have occurred without the climate crisis. Italian cities, it is explained, are among the most affected. They rank among the top ten of the 854 European cities analysed and the more than 16,000 deaths. Milan is in first place, Rome is second, Naples is fifth and Turin is tenth. “Heatwaves are silent killers,” say the researchers, “the vast majority of heat-related deaths occur in homes and hospitals”.