The 2003 European heat wave caused the hottest summer in Europe since at least 1540. France was devastated hard. Heat waves cause health crises in some countries and are combined with drought to create crop shortages in parts of Southern Europe. Peer-reviewed analysis puts the death toll in Europe by more than 70,000. The dominant heat was recorded in July and August, partly due to West Europe's seasonal lag from the maritime influence of the warm Atlantic waters in combination with hot continental air and strong southern winds.
Video 2003 European heat wave
By country
French
In France, 14,802 heat-related deaths (mostly among the elderly) occur during heat waves, according to the French National Institute of Health. France generally does not have very hot summers, especially in the northern regions, but eight days in a row with temperatures over 40 ° C (104 ° F) recorded at Auxerre, Yonne in early August 2003. As it is usually relatively hot which is light, most people do not know how to react to very high temperatures (eg, with respect to rehydration), and most single-family homes and residential facilities built within the last 50 years are not equipped with air conditioning. Furthermore, while emergency plans are made for a variety of natural and man-made disasters, high temperatures are rarely considered a major hazard.
The catastrophe occurred in August, a month in which many people, including ministers and government doctors, were on vacation. Many bodies were not claimed for weeks because the family was on vacation. A refrigerated warehouse outside Paris is used by administrators because they do not have enough space in their own facilities. On September 3, 2003, 57 bodies were still left unclaimed in the Paris area, and were buried.
The high number of deaths can be explained by the seemingly unrelated conjunction of events. Most nights in France are cool, even in summer. As a result, homes (usually of stone, concrete, or brick construction) are not very warm during the day and emit minimal heat at night, and air conditioning is usually unnecessary. During heat waves, the temperature remains at record high even at night, breaking the usual cooling cycle. The elderly person who lives alone has never faced such extreme heat before and does not know how to react or is too physically or physically disturbed by heat to make the necessary adaptation itself. Parents with family support or those living in nursing homes are more likely to have other people who can make adjustments for them. This leads to a statistically impossible survival rate with the weakest group having fewer deaths than the more physically fit person; most of the victims of heat come from a group of elderly people who do not need constant medical care, and/or those who live alone, without frequent contact with close family.
The shortage of the country's health system could allow such deaths to be controversial in France. President Jacques Chirac's administration and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin blame families who have left their elderly behind without regard to them, 35-hour work hours, affecting the amount of time doctors and family practitioners can spend on August. Many companies are closed traditionally in August, so people have no choice about when to vacation. Family doctors are still accustomed to vacationing at the same time. It is not clear that many doctors will help, because the main constraint is not the health system, but looking for parents who need help.
The opposition, as well as many local press editorials, have blamed the government. Many blame Health Minister Jean-FranÃÆ'§ois Mattei for failing to return from his vacation when a heatwave became serious, and his aides to block emergency measures at public hospitals (such as doctor recalls). A very vocal critic is Dr. Patrick Pelloux, head of the emergency medical union, who blames the Raffarin government for ignoring warnings from health and emergency professionals and trying to minimize the crisis. Mattei lost his ministerial position in a cabinet reshuffle on March 31, 2004.
Not everyone blames the government. "The structure of the French family is more dislocated than elsewhere in Europe, and the prevailing social stance says that after the elderly are closed behind the door of their apartment or in a nursing home, they are a matter of others," StÃÆ'Â © phane Mantion, an official with the French Red Cross. "Thousands of parents of these victims did not die of such heat waves, but from inadequate isolation and assistance they live with days in and out, and that almost every crisis situation can be fatal."
In addition, the French heat wave episode in 2003 shows how the dangers of heat waves result from the complex relationship between natural and social factors. Although the study determined that the heat wave represents a major threat to public health, France has no policy. Up until the 2003 incident, the heat wave was a highly underestimated risk in the French context, which partly explained the high number of casualties.
Below are the statistics for the month 2003 in France. Because the state uses a metric system, all values ​​are in a metric. Conversion to imperial found here.
Portugal
In Portugal, an estimated 1,866 to 2,039 people die from heat-related causes. August 1, 2003 is the hottest day in centuries, with night temperatures above 30 ° C (86 ° F). At dawn on the same day, a strange storm developed in the south of the country. Over the next week, a hot and strong wind contributed to the widespread spread of forest fires. Five percent of the countryside of Portugal and 10% of the forest (215,000 hectares or approximately 2,150 km 2 (830 sq mi)), were destroyed, and 18 people were killed in the flames. In Amareleja, one of the hottest cities in Europe, temperatures reach as high as 48 ° C (118 ° F).
Dutch
About 1,500 heat-related deaths occurred in the Netherlands, again mostly older people. Heat waves did not break the record, although four days of determined tropical weather in mid-July, before the official wave, were not counted due to the cold day between and the nature of the Dutch specification/definition of the heat wave. The highest temperatures recorded this heat wave on August 7, when in Arcen, in Limburg, a temperature of 37.8 Â ° C (100.0 Â ° F) was achieved, 0.8 Â ° C below the national record (since 1904). Higher temperatures were recorded only twice before. On August 8, temperatures of 37.7 ° C (99.9 ° F) were recorded, and August 12 had a temperature of 37.2 ° C (99.0 ° F).
Spanish
Initially, 141 deaths were associated with a heatwave in Spain. A further study of INE estimated 12,963 excess deaths during the summer of 2003. Note the temperature was damaged in various cities, with more heat waves felt in northern Spain that are usually colder.
Rekor suhu terasa di:
- Jerez, 45,1 °, C ° (113,2 ° F)
- Girona, 41Ã, ° C (106Ã, ° F) Burgos , 38.8 ° C (101.8 °)
- San SebastianÃÆ'¡n, 38,6Ã, ° C (101,5Ã, ° F)
- Pontevedra, 36º, Â ° C (97º, Â ° F)
- Barcelona, ​​36Ã, ° C (97Ã, ° F)
- Sevilla, 45.2º,  ° C (113.4º,  ° F) (replay tahun 1995 adalah 46,6º,  ° C (115,9Ã, ° F))
Italia
The summer of 2003 was the warmest in the last three centuries, and the maximum temperatures of July and August remained above 30 ° C (86 ° F). High humidity intensifies the perception of heat and suffering of the population. Several reports of strong positive temperature anomalies exist - for example from Toscana and Veneto. Temperature rises well above the average in most countries and achieves a very high average value especially in terms of heat persistence. The Catenanuova weather station, in Sicily, has a monthly average of 31.5 ° C (88.7 ° F) in July 2003, with an absolute maximum of 46.0 ° C (114.8 ° F) at July 17, with a monthly average maximum temperature of 36.0 ° C (96.8 ° F), 38.9 ° C (102.0 ° F) and 38.0 ° C (100.4 Â ° F) (1,200 killed) June, July, and August 2003, respectively.
German
In Germany, shipments can not navigate Elbe or Danube, as a result of low water levels. About 300 people - mostly elderly - died during the 2003 heat wave in Germany.
Switzerland
The melting of glaciers in the Alps caused an avalanche of snow and flash floods in Switzerland. A new national temperature record of 41.5 ° C (106.7 ° F) is recorded in Grono, Graubensden.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has a warm summer with temperatures above average. However, Atlantic cyclones carry cold and wet weather for the time being in late July and early August before temperatures begin to increase substantially from August 3 onwards. Some of the weather records were damaged in the UK, including the highest temperatures recorded in the UK at 38.5 ° C (101.3 ° F) at Faversham in Kent on August 10. Scotland also broke the record for the highest temperature with 32.9 ° C (91.2 ° F) recorded at Greycrook on the Scottish border on August 9. About 2,000 people died in the UK and as a result, the government issued the Heat Health Watch system, issuing a warning if the temperature rises above 30c during the day and 15c at night. According to the BBC, about 2,000 more people than usual may have died in the UK during the 2003 heat wave.
ireland
The summer of 2003 is warmer than the average in Ireland, but the heat is much more pronounced there than in all of Europe. August is the hottest, sunniest, and driest, with temperatures around 2 ° C above average. The highest recorded temperature was 30.3 Â ° C (86.5 Â ° F) in Belderrig, County Mayo on 8 August.
Swedish
Remarkably, Scandinavia saw a colder August day in 2003 than the year before when the comparative temperatures were very high for latitude, as hot air was parked over the European continent. Only the deepest southern Sweden sees all types of heatwave effects in the country, with the average Lund height for August being 23.9 ° C (75.0 ° F), which is a very warm average temperature for August. Nevertheless, Scania County remains below 30 ° C (86 ° F) which indicates a more subtle type of heat. Records from 1997 and 2002 are kept throughout the country, and the warmest temperatures are 30.8 ° C (87.4 ° F) in Stockholm on August 1, which is higher than Ireland's hottest temperatures. Although the relatively low exposure to heat waves is expected to give greater influence on the continent. Compared to 1961-1990, the August 2003 average is still some degree warmer than normal August in the southern third of the country.
Most of the heatwave in Sweden was seen earlier in July in the central and northern parts of the country, where Stockholm had an average of 20.2 ° C in July (68.4 ° F) with a height of 25.4 cm. Â ° C (77.7 Â ° F) which although very warm is not a record. The warmest summer temperatures are set on July 17th in the northern city of PiteÃÆ'Â dengann with 32.8 Â ° C (91.0 Â ° F), which although very hot for such northern coastal locations, are largely unrelated to the latter center. Intense heatwave of Europe. In northern Sweden, August temperatures are rarely warm due to low but enduring sun exposure during summer solstice. As a result, the temperatures there peak in July if the summer is warm.
Maps 2003 European heat wave
Effects on plants
Plants in Southern Europe suffer most from drought.
Wheat
This lack of grain harvest occurs as a result of long drought.
- French - 20%
- Italian - 13%
- United Kingdom - 12%
- Ukraine - 75% (unknown whether affected by heat wave or freezing earlier that year)
- Moldova - 80%
Many other countries have a 5-10% shortfall, and total EU production is down 10 million tons, or 10%.
Wine
Heat waves greatly accelerate ripening of grapes; also, the dehydrated heat of wine, makes the juice more concentrated. In mid-August, grapes in certain vineyards have reached their optimum sugar levels, possibly yielding 12.0 Ã,  ° -12,5Ã, wine (see alcohol level). Therefore, as well as the occurrence of changes in rainy weather, the harvest begins earlier than usual (eg in mid-August for areas normally harvested in September).
Grapes from 2003, though in rare quantities, are predicted to have exceptional quality, especially in France. The heatwave made Hungary run very well in the 2003 International Vinalies wine contest: a total of nine gold and nine silver medals were awarded to Hungarian wine-makers.
Sea effect
Overheating anomalies that affect the atmosphere also creates anomalies on the stratification of sea levels in the Mediterranean Sea and on surface currents, as well. The seasonal stream of the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ionian Stream (AIS), is affected by warm temperatures, resulting in modifications to the path and intensity. SIAs are important for the biological reproduction of important pelagic commercial fish species, so heat waves may have indirectly affected the stock of this species.
- Heat wave
- Drought
- European heat wave 2006
- 2010 summer heat wave of the Northern Hemisphere
- 2010 Sahel Hunger
- Summer 2012 North America heat wave
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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