Every year, high temperatures claim thousands of lives. British researchers have just shown that in the event of a heat wave, it is in the French capital that the risk of death is the highest in Europe.
Residents of Paris are at the greatest risk of dying from the heat compared to other European cities, according to a study recently published in Lancet Planet Health.
The researchers compared data from 854 European cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants between 2000 and 2019. They thus observed that the French capital presented the highest temperature-related mortality risks, regardless of the age bracket. age. For example, for residents aged over 85, excess mortality is 1.6 times higher in Paris than elsewhere.
The “urban heat island” effect
To explain this phenomenon, the authors put forward in priority the effect of “urban heat island” of which large cities are victims. During the day, in densely populated areas, materials such as stone, brick, concrete or zinc roofs, characteristic of Paris, easily capture heat. At night, this stored heat is released into the atmosphere and prevents the air from cooling, creating a heat dome. Significant temperature differences can thus be observed between Paris and rural areas (up to 10° C during the 2003 heat wave). The lack of vegetation does not help.
Risks that should logically continue to increase with global warming. This is why an information and assessment mission called “Paris at 50°C” produced a report last April on the city’s adaptation to heat waves. 85 recommendations are described therein, including a “renaturation” of the city – a process by which nature re-establishes itself in the city – and the creation of a “Great heat” plan, on the model of the “Great cold” plan.