Heat-related fatalities are rising as climate change continues to drive global temperatures upward. The frequency and intensity of heat waves have increased and are a serious challenge for urban areas, where the dense infrastructure often intensifies the heat. This phenomenon, known as the urban heat island effect, causes cities to store more heat, making them particularly vulnerable during prolonged high temperatures. You can check out the hotspots in your city with our urban heat maps. The screenshot shows the heat map for Zurich (Switzerland) from 2024-08-29 at 17:00 and highlights the city's temperature variations.
The rise in heat-related fatalities is a reminder of the urgent need to address climate change and implement adaptive measures in e.g. urban planning. This can include increasing green spaces, improving building designs to enhance natural cooling, and ensuring communities can access cooling centres during extreme heat events. Without such interventions, the trend of rising temperatures and associated health risks will likely continue, leading to more loss of life and increased strain on healthcare systems.
The rise in heat-related fatalities reminds us of the urgent need to address climate change and implement adaptive measures in urban planning, for example. This can include increasing green spaces, improving building designs to enhance natural cooling, and ensuring that communities have access to cooling centres during extreme heat events. Without such interventions, the trend of rising temperatures and associated health risks is likely to continue, leading to more loss of life and increased strain on healthcare systems.
The Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU) provides data on estimated heat-related fatalities, including confidence intervals, which provide a statistical range within which the true values of fatalities are expected to fall in Switzerland.
The figure shows the estimated annual heat-related fatalities by BAFU (black), including confidence intervals (black dashed lines). The historical summertime air temperatures for the Canton of Zurich from 2000 to 2022 are shown in blue and are averaged per year. All numbers represent annual values. Heat-related fatalities increase strongly during heat waves e.g. in 2003 or 2015. In general, summertime air temperatures have increased over the years. However, the number of heat-related fatalities notably peaks during years with exceptionally high summer temperatures. This trend underscores the significant impact of rising temperatures on public health, emphasising the growing risk posed by heat waves. It is, therefore, crucial for the population and policymakers to be warned about upcoming heat waves.
The analysis indicates that as Switzerland experiences hotter summers, the frequency and severity of heat-related fatalities tend to increase, reflecting the urgent need for effective heatwave management, mitigation and adaptation strategies.
