Extreme Heat Kills 100,000 a Year in Europe, Inequality to Blame

The climate crisis and rising inequality could kill more than 100,000 people in Europe every year. The number should alarm policymakers. Call it a tale of two heatwaves. As brutally hot conditions swept western Europe, an American writer in Paris said the heat was not “nearly as apocalyptic” as most media suggested. He relied on closed shutters, misting sessions, and open windows to cool his ground-level flat. He had not even bought a fan. But for many others, the heat is deadly. Extreme temperatures expose a deep divide: those who can afford cooling survive, while those who cannot die. The gap is widening.