"Thermal imaging shows how people experience scorching heat varies depending on their circumstance."
"The extreme heat scientists have warned about for decades came to Europe again this summer, killing at least 30,000 people like a silent, invisible plague. It came for poor people, the very young and very old, and those suffering from debilitating conditions.
The final toll will likely be higher. A 2024 United Nations report estimated about 175,000 annual heat-related deaths across Europe, and total deaths in European Union countries spiked above 60,000 in 2022 and 2024.
The heat started earlier than ever, in late May, and kept coming in deadly, unrelenting waves that destroyed crops and vineyards, buckled railroad tracks, turned forests to kindling and dried up rivers and lakes. When it settled heavily over Bologna, Italy, in late June, residents of the industrial region said it was like a stifling, life-threatening force that you feel in your bones, transforming streets and buildings into radiators blasting warmth day and night, making routine outdoor chores dangerous."
Bob Berwyn reports for Inside Climate News with photos by Michele Lapini September 28, 2026.
