On July 25th, 2019, the UK broke the record for its hottest day ever. As a result, over 200 more people died that day. These figures underline the deadly impact of global warming.
Out of the three hottest months of the year, July to September, the hottest record-breaking day out of them all was on the 25th of July, reaching up to 38.7°C (102°F). According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), more people died on the 25th than any other day in those three months. Typically, about 1,150-1,200 deaths are recorded in the UK in July. However, when the temperature skyrocketed, that number quickly rose to 1,404.
In addition to the increase in deaths on the hottest day recorded, the day after also had higher-than-average deaths, with 1,331 people dying on the 26th. The heatwave is likely to have caused over 900 more deaths overall. “These figures probably understate the full picture. We expect the final figures from Public Health England in January to show that even more people died,” said Bob Ward, of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change.
Older people are particularly vulnerable to scorching temperatures, especially those with cerebrovascular or respiratory diseases. “Every day that temperatures are above 28C is a threat to people with respiratory diseases,” Ward added.
Even though the ONS didn’t directly blame the climate crisis for the death rate, it said there is a stable link between the extreme heat and deaths. “When comparing the number of deaths per day in 2018 with the five-year average, we can see that some days have more deaths than we would expect. The comparatively high number of deaths occur mainly on days that are defined as heatwaves by Public Health England,” said ONS.
In July 2019, the Committee on Climate Change reported that homes, in particular, care homes, are not well adapted to heat. Ward believes more action needs to happen to prevent people from dying, specifically in house designs.
Ward said, “It is clear that the incidence of heatwaves is increasing, both in frequency and intensity, directly as a result of climate change. But we are still building homes that are not taking into account global heating.”
Many people use air conditioning (AC) as their solution to the heat, but AC dumps all of the heat back to the outside. Besides, most people can’t even afford to buy, install, or run air conditioning. However, there are a few tips people can do, such as keeping curtains down when the sun is beaming in, opening the windows to let the airflow, and even taking showers to cool down your body temperature. Most importantly, stay hydrated.
In 2018, a cross-party committee of MPs mentioned that the UK was not at all prepared for heatwaves. The MPs warned that without action and preparation, heat-related deaths would triple up to 7,000 a year by 2040. Across the Atlantic, a 2026 Yale study of U.S. heat deaths found that household air conditioning now prevents roughly 5,200 heat-related deaths every year in the United States, suggesting that cooling access is one of the strongest public health tools available against a warming climate.
