BRUSSELS, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Belgium recorded 1,747 excess deaths during the heatwave from June 18 to July 1, local media reported Wednesday, citing data released by Belgian public health institute Sciensano.
It was the deadliest heatwave-related episode recorded in Belgium since such analyses began in 2000, the report said.
June 27 was the deadliest day of the episode, with 641 deaths recorded. The number of deaths remained high on June 28, at 632. As temperatures eased toward the end of the month, the daily number of deaths returned to about 260, Sciensano said.
Meanwhile, the figures also showed that excess deaths were not limited to older people, as the impact of heat may affect all age groups and that preventive measures should cover the whole population, Sciensano added.
Wim Thiery, professor of climate science at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), told Xinhua in a written response that the number of hot days is increasing almost everywhere on Earth. In Belgium, human-induced climate change has already added about five hot days per year, he said.
He said there are limits to how much people can adapt to rapidly increasing heat stress, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions is crucial to stabilizing global warming.
