More than 2,700 people have died as a result of excess heat this summer, according to figures from Imperial College – a toll that one commentator described as 'saddened, but not shocked' to see. At the peak of the June heatwave, that worked out to around 440 deaths a day.
The people hit hardest are, as ever, those already closest to the edge: older people in flats that turn into ovens, people with heart and lung conditions, disabled people, outdoor workers, and the homeless. Research carried out for Greenpeace last week showed almost a quarter of people had someone in the household who felt physically unwell. Six in ten workers said their workplace was too hot to bear, nearly one in ten called it unsafe, and almost a quarter had to throw away food that spoiled in the heat. More than half say their homes need serious upgrades just to cope with the next one, but most couldn't afford that themselves.
“Over 2,700 people have died from heat in the UK this summer; Greenpeace urges government action.”
Greenpeace is calling on the Government to publish an Extreme Heat Strategy: protections for workers who currently have no legal right to stop in dangerous heat, upgrades for schools so no child is stuck in a classroom turned sauna, and funding to heat-proof the hospitals, care homes and public housing where the people most at risk actually live. When asked, almost half backed a levy to fund this placed on the highest-emitting companies.
Depressingly, the most noise being made in politics right now is from those advocating for more drilling in the North Sea – with some indication that soon-to-be Prime Minister Andy Burnham may be open to the idea and the fossil fuel companies that stand to profit. The Met Office has projected that by 2056, days of 45°C could be our new normal, a figure that would have sounded like science fiction a decade ago.