Survey shows some 12,000 dead in European heat wave

[Nambe]

Associated Press

Results of an Associated Press survey of 18 European countries for official estimates of the death toll from the August heat wave:

Three nations compared mortality rates this summer to last, using the difference to help them determine an official estimate of this year's toll.

[Cha]

1. This is so sad! How hot can it be? Poor things!

This is outrageous!

And do we have this to look forward to?

[pippin]

2. and still we americans are in denial

this is global warming, and " the ozone hole over the Antarctic is growing at a rate that suggests it could be headed for a record size this year, Australian scientists said on Friday. "
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030822/sc_nm/environment_ozone_australia_dc_1

but guess what?

" The Bush administration plans to open a huge loophole in America's air pollution laws, allowing an estimated 17,000 outdated power stations and factories to increase their carbon emissions with impunity. . . .The rules could represent the biggest defeat for American environmentalists since the Bush administration abandoned the Kyoto Treaty on global warming two years ago. But the energy industry welcomed them, saying they were essential for maintaining coal-fired power stations."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1028090,00.html

what is happening in europe could happen here should our "third world power grids" cave in and we're left with no airconditioning . . . and believe me it is NOT pleasant. i have just returned from france and temperatures ranged upwards of 104 degrees. buildings literally turned into ovens.

[PartyPooper]

3. This is such a tragedy. And, the catastrophic toll is incomplete.

What about all of the livestock? Domestic pets? And, has our "leader", George W.Bush, expressed any public sympathy or condolences towards our European friends and their lost loved ones? NO!

I feel so sad. :-(

[slack]

4. in france, they count approximately 13.000

said my daily newspaper sueddeutsche zeitung. portugal 1.300, netherlands 500-1000, in italy they estimate the same number of death as in france. some countries like germany or spain doesn't count, but in germany this summer was the hottest since start of weatherobservation. with temperatures above 40°C (104°F) and the whole july every day above 25°C(77°F) - in germany this is very unusal.
on the other hand, when it rains, it rains very strong. last winter floodings caused damage of 15 Billions €.
thats no hard evidance for a climatic change, but i think a foretaste.

[femmecahors]

6. Yes, it was horrible . . .

Forgive me if I keep boring you with my "first-hand" posts about the French heat wave.

It was unbelievable. (And I've lived in Washington, D.C. during the summers.) I'm in southwestern rural France this summer. The crops are devastated here. Lots of domestic and farm animals died . . . my friend's young rabbit died at her house and it had plenty of water and attention. We're on severe water restrictions even now when the heat wave seems to have broken. (Although we're still in the high eighties every day.) The canal that runs through our property is dried out. The little creek is almost dried out . . . the fish have died. Even the "tough" Americans who were here visiting me (including myself) couldn't function in the heat. In the afternoons, they either slept, or got in their air-conditioned cars and drove around (contributing to more global warming.)

Usually, if you keep these old stone farm houses closed up in the day, they stay very cool throughout the summer. But the problem was that we weren't cooling down at night enough to cool the houses, so they just kept getting hotter with each passing day. Babies were screaming all through the night because they were so hot and sweaty . . . even American babies!

Whenever we had a very cold spell in Montana, my mother would always point out that the old people would start dying off. It's not because they are freezing to death, it's because the stress of dealing with the extreme cold taxes their already weak systems. I suspect that is what happened here in France and Europe. France has lots of old people (because the quality of life is so good here) and when you stress the body of an 85, 90, or 100 year old for weeks on end, they just can't hang on, or even want to hang on because they're so miserable. Even if they have great care.

My 70 year old neighbor takes excellent care of her 90 year old mother, who is confined to a wheelchair. I visit them almost every day. During this heat wave the old mother just refused to be moved from her bed. She really was just giving up on living. We all thought she would die, and she was getting excellent care; from her daughter and a travelling nurse was visiting every other day (as she was the other old people in our area . . . the government in the U.S. wouldn't provide that for our people). However, as soon as the heat wave broke, the 90 year old was sitting outside in her wheelchair enjoying the garden and the high 80's temperatures.

France is being honest about their deaths and not covering up what happened. I really don't know what could have been done to change the outcome . . . yes, we could have all ran air-conditioners, but already the electrical grid was in trouble because of the heat, and we were told to conserve.

Oh, by the way . . . during the heatwave I have a few conservative American visitors . . . they now believe in GLOBAL WARMING!!!!

[PartyPooper]

7. Thank you for your riveting and informative post, femmecahors!

We all wish you the best under such trying cirumstances!

I remember how my grandmother used to describe how they kept cool during the early part of the 20th century. They would drench towels in water...and, then they would drape these towels over themselves so they could sleep more comfortably.

It really worked! Please try it!

:-)

[femmecahors]

9. Merci FeteMerde . . .

(That's my translation of PartyPooper.)

That is a good idea . . . I will employ it next year.

We seem to be out of the woods now. Except the woods aren't out of the woods . . . I forgot to mention that the leaves of the trees turned color TWO WEEKS ago . . . That usually doesn't happen until the very end of September/beginning of October.

Also, the grape harvest will be merde-like. So the irony for the Freepers/O'Reilly lovers who started the French wine boycott is that the French wine will actually become a scarce commodity in the next few years . . . although I'm told that the wine that does come out of 2003, at least the Bordeaux wine, should be very very good . . . wine is good if it's heavily stressed during its growing season. . . there won't be much of it though. (I'm not a wine expert . . . the vintners are telling me this as they cry over their lost harvest.)

By the way, French farmers aren't permitted to water their vines . . . if they want that AOC designation. The grapes have to be natural (they are allowed to spray them for bugs IF the bugs show up).

[Paschall]

11. PartyPooper... that would be...

...rabat-joie in French. :-)

[NYC]

8. Thanks for reporting.

Keep us informed, please.

[Paschall]

12. "France is being honest about their deaths...

...and not covering up what happened."

If you've been following the French media, femmecahors, you know those figures were not released by Chirac's government, but by funeral service providers, ER specialists, and paramedics associations.

Meanwhile, the government is trying to keep a lid on it, urging "caution" with the numbers. And they're still sticking to the 3-5,000 number. But the funeral service providers' estimates have been spot on so far.

We won't get a more accurate figure until the end of September, and then won't have a definitive tally until the end of the year after the national health institute (INSERM) examines all the country's death certificates.

Hope you get some rain soon... but not too much, at least not before the vendange.

[CO Liberal]

5. How Do They Tell This From A Survey????

Q - Are You Dead?

A -

< > Yes
< > No
< > No Response

:-)

[Paschall]

10. Have a look at this

link