Italy faces devastating heat deaths as climate crisis escalates

Extreme heat caused by the climate crisis risks causing over 2.3 million deaths in Europe's cities by the end of the century, according to a study by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, published Nature Medicine, and Italy cities are among those set to be hit hardest, CE Report quotes ANSA.

Rome is second in the list for heat deaths with an estimated 147,738, behind Barcelona with 246,082, according to the study.

Napoli is third with 147,248, Milan fifth with 110,131 and Genoa 10th with 36,338.

"Our findings highlight the urgent need to aggressively pursue both climate change mitigation and adaptation to rising heat," said Pierre Masselot, the author of the study.

"This is particularly critical in the Mediterranean region where, if action is not taken, the consequences could be disastrous.

"But, by following a more sustainable path, we could avoid millions of deaths before the end of the century".

Scientists say the climate crisis caused by human greenhouse gas emissions is making extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, supercharged storms and flooding more frequent and more intense.

Italy has experienced a long series of such events in recent years.

Last year intense heatwaves and extreme droughts impacted southern regions, with Sicily and Sardinia hit especially severely, while heavy rainfall led to flooding in Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Marche, prompting the authorities to declare a state of emergency.

Although there are many sources of the greenhouse gases that are causing global heating, the main driver is the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, sales of which generate huge profits for the world's energy giants.