Heatwaves in Spain caused 1,180 deaths in past two months, ministry says
The vast majority of people who died were over 65 and more than half were women, the data it cited showed.
The most affected regions were Galicia, La Rioja, Asturias and Cantabria - all located in the northern half of the country, where traditionally cooler summer temperatures have seen a significant rise in recent years.
Like other countries in Western Europe, Spain has been hit by extreme heat in recent weeks, with temperatures often topping 40°C.
The 1,180 people who died of heat-related causes between May 16 and Jul 13 compared with 70 in the same period in 2024, the ministry said in a statement citing data from the Carlos III Health Institute. The number of deaths increased significantly in the first week in July.
The data shows an event "of exceptional intensity, characterised by an unprecedented increase in average temperatures and a significant increase in mortality attributable to heatwaves", the ministry said.
In the period the data covers, there were 76 red alerts for extreme heat, compared with none a year earlier.
Last summer, 2,191 deaths were attributed to heat-related causes in Spain, according to data from the Carlos III Health Institute.
The data from Spain follows a rapid scientific analysis published on Jul 9 that said around 2,300 people died of heat-related causes across 12 European cities during a severe heatwave in the 10 days to Jul 2.
It was not immediately clear whether the study conducted by scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was using the same methodology as the Spanish data.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
China's record-breaking heat pushes power demand to new high
BEIJING: Days of record-breaking heat across large swathes of China pushed power demand to an all-time high in excess of 1.5 billion kilowatts on Wednesday (Jul 16), energy officials said, with temperatures forecast to feel like 50 degrees Celsius in some areas on Thursday. An arc of sweltering heat stretching from the densely populated city of Chongqing in the southwest to Guangzhou on the coast has enveloped an area home to over 200 million people in recent days. A subtropical high pressure system, which causes warm and dry weather, drove temperatures at eight weather stations in the northwest and southwest of China to record highs in the last two days, state media said on Thursday, citing national weather authorities. "The power system is holding up so far," said Chim Lee, a senior energy and climate change specialist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "But the real test will come as the summer wears on, and there are still risks of potential power rationing," he added. Solar energy accounted for half of June's surge in power generation. Hydropower output nationwide was up on 2023, though still lower than the corresponding 2022 period, Lee said. China's National Energy Administration flagged a "record high" on Wednesday in the country's electrical load for the third time this month. That was an increase of 55 million kilowatts over last year's maximum. Provincial records have also been broken 36 times since summer began in the world's second-largest economy. In some parts of the central provinces of Hubei and Hunan, which are the same size as Italy and Britain, respectively, apparent temperatures – a measure of how hot the combination of temperatures, humidity and wind make people feel - were forecast to reach as high as 50 degrees Celsius on Thursday. Similar apparent temperatures were also expected in the southern provinces of Jiangxi and Guangdong – home to populations equivalent to those of Spain and Mexico. Besides scorching croplands and eroding farm incomes, higher temperatures can affect manufacturing hubs and disrupt operations in key ports, straining overburdened healthcare. But the scorching heat is also giving consumer spending a boost. Sales of air conditioners and handheld fans have surged 112 per cent and 103 per cent month-on-month, respectively, according to Chinese e-commerce giant The catering sector has also seen a notable rise in demand, as people seek out cool refreshments. "It could improve consumer sentiment as it is helping sales of air conditioning, which is a big household appliance," said Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group in Singapore. "And the services sector can expect to get a boost, as people escape the heat by going to watch a movie." "SANFU SEASON" The heat is expected to persist. China's "Sanfu Season" – an agricultural marker believed to have been in use for over two millennia – typically begins in mid-July and lasts through late August, denoting the peak of summer. It is forecast to run from Sunday to Aug 19 this year. In response to the early high temperatures, state broadcaster CCTV last week spotlighted a tradition of people sleeping with wax gourds, vegetables considered effective in absorbing body heat. Over the past decade, the southern province of Jiangxi has experienced an annual average of 21.7 days of temperatures above 28 degrees Celsius, up from five to seven at the turn of the century, state media added. There is a chance of some respite, however. Weather forecasters expect temperatures to begin easing from Monday, as a tropical depression east of the Philippines may strengthen into a tropical storm expected to be named Wipha, and track across Taiwan toward southern China. However, the low-pressure system could be blocked from advancing north by the subtropical high, keeping air conditioners running at full tilt and further straining the power grid.
CNA
11 hours ago
- CNA
Three-person IVF technique spared children from inherited diseases: Scientists
Eight children in the United Kingdom have been spared from devastating genetic diseases thanks to a new three-person in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique, scientists from Newcastle University reported on Wednesday (Jul 16). The technique, which is banned in the United States, transfers pieces from inside the mother's fertilised egg - its nucleus, plus the nucleus of the father's sperm - into a healthy egg provided by an anonymous donor. The procedure prevents the transfer of mutated genes from inside the mother's mitochondria, the cells' energy factories, that could cause incurable and potentially fatal disorders. Mutations in mitochondrial DNA can affect multiple organs, particularly those that require high energy, such as the brain, liver, heart, muscles and kidneys. One of the eight children is now two years old, two are between the ages of one and two, and five are infants. All were healthy at birth, with blood tests showing no or low levels of mitochondrial gene mutations, the scientists reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. All have made normal developmental progress, they said. The results "are the culmination of decades of work", not just on the scientific or technical challenges but also in ethical inquiry, public and patient engagement, law-making, drafting and execution of regulations, and establishing a system for monitoring and caring for the mothers and infants, reproductive medicine specialist Dr Andy Greenfield of the University of Oxford, who was not involved in the research, said in a statement. The researchers' "treasure trove of data" is likely to be the starting point of new avenues of investigation, Greenfield said. Often during IVF screening procedures, doctors can identify some low-risk eggs with very few mitochondrial gene mutations that are suitable for implantation. But sometimes all of the eggs' mitochondrial DNA carries mutations. In those cases, using the new technique, the UK doctors first fertilise the mother's egg with the father's sperm. Then they remove the fertilised egg's 'pronuclei', that is, the nuclei of the egg and the sperm, which carry the DNA instructions from both parents for the baby's development, survival and reproduction. Next, they transfer the egg and sperm nuclei into a donated fertilised egg that has had its pronuclei removed. The donor egg will now begin to divide and develop with its healthy mitochondria and the nuclear DNA from the mother's egg and the father's sperm. This process, detailed in a second paper in the journal, 'essentially replaces the faulty mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) with healthy mtDNA from the donor', senior researcher Mary Herbert, professor of reproductive biology at Newcastle, said at a press briefing. Blood levels of mtDNA mutations were 95 per cent to 100 per cent lower in six newborns, and 77 per cent to 88 per cent lower in two others, compared to levels of the same variants in their mothers, the researchers reported in a second paper. "These data indicate that pronuclear transfer was effective in reducing transmission of mtDNA disease," they said. The procedure was tested in 22 women whose babies were likely to inherit such genes. In addition to the eight women who delivered the children described in this report, another one of the 22 is currently pregnant. Seven of the eight pregnancies were uneventful; in one case, a pregnant woman had blood tests showing high lipid levels. There have been no miscarriages. The authors of the current reports have also tried transplanting the nucleus of a mother's unfertilized egg into a donor egg and then fertilising the donor egg afterwards, but they believe their new approach may more reliably prevent transmission of the genetic disorders. In 2015, the UK became the first country in the world to legalise research into mitochondrial donation treatment in humans. That same year in the US, pronuclear transfer was effectively banned for human use by a congressional appropriations bill that prohibited the Food and Drug Administration from using funds to consider the use of "heritable genetic modification".
CNA
18 hours ago
- CNA
Heat melts Alps snow and glaciers, sparking water shortages
SAINT-CHRISTOPHE-EN-OISANS: An early summer heatwave has accelerated the melting of snow and glaciers in the French Alps, triggering water shortages at mountain shelters just as the hiking season begins (July 16). 'Everything has dried up,' said Noemie Dagan, caretaker of the Selle refuge, a 60-bed chalet perched at 2,673 metres in the Ecrins mountain range. The snowfield that typically feeds the shelter's water supply now 'looks a bit like what we would expect at the end of July or early August,' she said. 'We are nearly a month early in terms of the snow's melting,' she added. MOUNTAIN SHELTERS UNDER PRESSURE The Selle refuge lacks a water tank and depends entirely on snowmelt. If the flow stops, the shelter will have to close, as it did in mid-August last year. Dagan has tried to prevent another shutdown by installing a kilometre-long pipe to tap a nearby glacier near the Pic de la Grave. But the steep, unstable slopes make the setup vulnerable, especially as storms in the range grow stronger and more frequent. Over 15 years in the job, Dagan said she has witnessed a 'metamorphosis' of the glaciers and mountains that once acted as natural reservoirs. 'We are basically the sentinels who have seen what is coming,' she said. GLACIERS NO LONGER RELIABLE Thomas Boillot, a mountain guide, said the idea of water running out at alpine shelters had once 'never even crossed our minds.' That is no longer the case. Melting snowfields, reduced precipitation, and reshaped glaciers are combining to disrupt the natural flow of water. In some cases, future supply may need to be pumped from lower altitudes. Scientists warn that climate change is hitting the Alps nearly twice as hard as other regions. Many glaciers could vanish entirely by the end of the century, leaving only traces behind. In neighbouring Switzerland, authorities say snow and ice reserves have melted five to six weeks earlier than usual. Xavier Cailhol, an environmental science PhD student and guide, recently toured Mont Blanc and called the heatwave's effects 'brutal.' 'I started ski-touring in June with 40 centimetres of powder snow. I ended up on bare glaciers, even at 3,700 metres near the Midi Peak,' he said. A snow cover helps protect the glacier beneath by reflecting sunlight, he noted. But this year, 'above 3,200 metres, it's drier than anything we've seen before.' One stark example is the Bossons Glacier, which looms over the Chamonix valley. A patch of gravel that formed on the ice is now expanding, and absorbing more heat, accelerating the melt.
