BRUSSELS: Nearly half of schools and hospitals in European cities are located in urban “heat islands”, exposing vulnerable populations to health-threatening temperatures as climate change impacts worsen, the European Union’s environment agency has said.
Around 46 per cent of hospitals and 43 per cent of schools are in areas at least 2 degrees Celsius warmer than the regional average – fuelling fiercer heatwave impacts than in rural areas, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said on Wednesday (Jun 14), in an analysis of how Europe can adapt to climate change.
The reason is the urban heat island effect, where dense clusters of buildings and infrastructure like roads absorb and retain more heat than green areas.
“This is something which will have severe consequences for human health,” said Blaz Kurnik, head of the EEA’s climate adaptation department.
Climate change, caused by industry continuing to burn fossil fuels, is making heatwaves hotter and more frequent – a trend that, when combined with urban heat islands, poses risks including increased deaths from heat stress to vulnerable populations like the elderly.
Source: CNA
