Jerusalem, 31 May, 2022 (TPS) — Israel has experienced a sharp and significant increase in mortality during the weeks when there are heatwaves in the country, a new report published by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on Tuesday shows.
According to the study, each heatwave led to the deaths of about 45 people. In the summary of the eight heatwaves examined in the study during the years 2012-2020, excess mortality of 363 people was found.
For example, after the heatwave that began on April 26, 2013, 871 people died, while model forecasts predicted a weekly mortality of 811 people, an excess mortality of 60 people.
Most of the mortality abnormality was observed in adults over the age of 70, who accounted for 88.5% of all deaths following a heatwave. This figure in itself constitutes a deviation from the norm, since this population constitutes 70-73% of the total deaths in routine, and therefore points to the high sensitivity of this population to heatwaves.
The frequency, intensity and duration of heatwaves throughout the world, including in Israel, are on the rise.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a report in August 2021 showing that the average temperature in Israel has risen by an average of 1.4 degrees from 1950 to 2017, and is expected to continue to rise by another 1.2 degrees by 2050.
“Most of the medical consequences of heatwaves can be prevented with the help of early deployment and economically effective alert systems. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and government ministries are working as part of a program to prepare for a climate crisis, in order to prepare for the heat waves and the expected increase in their intensity, frequency and duration,” the ministry stated.
