Around 70,000 people died in Europe last year due to proven hot weather. According to statistics in The Lancet magazine, Osijek, Croatia, has the most per 100,000 inhabitants. The six dozen heat victims there per 100,000 inhabitants per year “pulled” Croatia to first place in Europe in this indicator with 42 deaths.
For comparison: in the Czech Republic, according to a study published in the Lancet magazine, almost six times more people die from the cold than from the heat, according to the annual average over two decades. With 11 heat victims per 100,000 inhabitants per year, the Czech Republic is at the bottom of the statistics.
At first glance, Osijek, near the border with Serbia, does not look like a city that should suffer from hellish heat. The agricultural Slavonia in which it lies is warmer than the capital Zagreb, but it should not be as hot as coastal Dalmatia with Dubrovnik and Split.
Number of heat deaths in Europe per 100,000 people
Italy……………..25
Cyprus……………….23
Greece……………….20
Osijek, full of parks dating back to the Austro-Hungarian era, lies on the banks of the Drava, which flows into the Danube after about 20 kilometers. It overlooks Kopački Rit, one of Europe’s largest wetlands. The moisture from it and other bodies of water in the vicinity may be one of the reasons why the heat in this city is so demanding on the human body. A lot of water in the air means that less sweat evaporates from the skin and thus removes less heat from the body. According to The Guardian, an Indian chef from a local restaurant said that summer in Osijek reminds him of his home in Uttarakhand.
Photo: Profimedia.cz
Residents of the Croatian Osijek can spend the summer on the banks of the Drava River.
Another factor, according to scientists, may be diet and the resulting high blood pressure. On the coast, people prefer the Mediterranean diet, which includes fish, vegetables and wine, to pork, potatoes and beer. However, Osijek is not seaside and its cuisine is full of fatty dishes with lard and cream.
More mosquitoes than in Burkina Faso
Mosquitoes can also be to blame, as they can transmit a number of diseases that weaken the human body and make it more susceptible to serious problems from the heat. Branimir Hackenberger, a biologist from the University of Osijek who deals with insect populations, explained according to the paper that a person can take away up to 300 bites from sitting on the banks of the Drava for an hour. “In Osijek we have more mosquito attacks per hour in the summer than in Burkina Faso,” he explained.
Croatia’s Ministry of Health said it “has a system of early warning and recommendations for protection against heat”, in response to a warning based on a study published in the Lancet.
According to the first predictions, this summer in Europe will be accompanied by waves of extreme heat similar to last year’s, the most significant of which was the Kerberos wave, named after the three-headed black dog that, according to ancient myths, guards the entrance to the underworld. It signals the transition of the meteorological phenomenon El Niño to La Niña, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in its seasonal forecast.
Europe will be scorched by hellish heat waves in the summer. El Niño is replaced by La Niña
Europe
