{"id":36947,"date":"2025-07-18T20:17:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/?p=36947"},"modified":"2025-07-18T20:21:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:21:42","slug":"how-to-prepare-for-extreme-heat-current-situation-and-challenges-in-climate-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/2025\/07\/18\/how-to-prepare-for-extreme-heat-current-situation-and-challenges-in-climate-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"How to prepare for extreme heat: Current situation and challenges in climate communication"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In recent weeks, Europe has once again experienced <strong>deadly consequences of record-breaking extreme heat<\/strong>Hundreds of heat warnings have been issued across the continent, with temperatures reaching as high as 46\u00b0C in some regions. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Heat waves are the biggest climate threat to Europe, endangering millions of people \u2013 especially the elderly, children and the chronically ill. A comprehensive approach, based on data, sensible early communication, environmental infrastructure and community preparation, can truly save thousands of lives.<\/p>\n<h5>\ud83c\udf21 1. Deadly heat waves on the European continent<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Summer 2025 brought extraordinary heat waves again<\/strong>, in Spain, approximately died from May 16 to July 13 <strong>1,180 people<\/strong>, with 76 red alerts issued\u2014compared to none last year.<\/li>\n<li>In 12 major European cities, approximately 100,000 people were recorded during a ten-day heat wave in late June and early July. <strong>2,300 deaths<\/strong>, of which the direct consequences of climate change are attributed to approximately 1,500 people.<\/li>\n<li><strong>From 2000 to 2019, an average of more than 175,000 people died from heatwaves across Europe each year.<\/strong> \u2013 WHO attack confirms that WHO Europe region is the fastest warming region in the world.<\/li>\n<li>During the most severe heatwave in 2022, Europe&#039;s models predicted a median of more than <strong>61,000 deaths<\/strong>, while perhaps up to <strong>70,000<\/strong>For 2023, it is estimated that approximately <strong>47,000 deaths<\/strong>, which represents the second highest incidence in the last decade<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h5>\ud83d\udcc8 2. Causes and trends<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>Climate change has increased temperatures during heat waves by <strong>2\u20134\u00b0C<\/strong>, which increased mortality by approximately 66 % during the governments in late June to early July 2025 .<\/li>\n<li>EU areas in southern Europe are particularly affected: in the population over 65 years old, it is projected that at 1.5 \u00b0C warming <strong>tenfold increase in deaths<\/strong>, at 3 \u00b0C up to thirty times .<\/li>\n<li>Another risk is created by the so-called &quot;tropical nights&quot; and the urban heat island effect (+2 \u00b0C in many cities)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h5>\ud83c\udfe5 3. Impacts on society and the economy<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>Excessive heat reduces work capacity, increases the number of work accidents and short-term absences, especially in open professions.<\/li>\n<li>Schools and healthcare are affected \u2013 hospitals and school buildings are often located in the most warming parts of cities (<em>urban heat islands<\/em>) even around +2 \u00b0C compared to the rural environment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h5><strong>\ud83d\udce3 4. Key challenges in communication<\/strong><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>Many countries and cities do not have <strong>sufficiently developed communication strategies<\/strong>, even during warnings.<\/li>\n<li>In many cases, the reporting gap only appears during a wave, not during annual prevention.<\/li>\n<li>Surveys in the EU show that a significant part of the population <strong>feels underinformed<\/strong> about the risks of heat, with older people and low-income groups being most vulnerable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h5>\ud83d\ude80 5. Three main recommendations for effective communication<\/h5>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Engage social research<\/strong> \u2013 adapt campaigns according to the age, region, culture and socio-economic conditions of the population.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Communicate throughout the year<\/strong>, not just during a crisis. The state prepares the community for long-term resilience.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Addressing gaps in risk perception<\/strong>, especially among those who ignore the consequences \u2013 to motivate action rather than reaction in a crisis.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<h5>\ud83d\udee0 6. Political and infrastructural measures<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>Required: <strong>early warning systems<\/strong>, climate-resilient buildings, green infrastructure (parks, roof gardens, street greening) and programs for the protection of vulnerable groups.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Health and social care capacities<\/strong> they must be adapted: as warnings, mobile centers, cooling places, ensuring sufficient water.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Industry and businesses<\/strong> should adapt work processes \u2013 for shift work hours, air-conditioned workplaces and regulated outdoor activities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h5>\ud83d\udccc 7. The need for a comprehensive EU approach<\/h5>\n<p>Extreme heat is <strong>new European standard<\/strong>: occurrence of up to \u223c 10x more frequent and longer heat waves compared to the period 1961\u20131990.<br \/>\nOnly by integration <strong>communication, policy, infrastructure and community resilience<\/strong> Deaths and illnesses can be significantly reduced. As the WHO shows, the EU faces tens of thousands of deaths every year from heat alone. <em><strong>Spring<\/strong><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Europe has once again experienced the deadly effects of record-breaking extreme heat in recent weeks. Hundreds of heat warnings have been issued across the continent, with temperatures reaching 46\u00b0C in some regions.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-klimaticka-zmena"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36947\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}