By Emma Court,Web Master

Copyright japantimes

Climate change fueled scorching summer temperatures that killed an estimated 16,500 people in European cities this summer, pushing overall heat deaths to more than three times what might otherwise have occurred, according to a new study.The analysis presents an early glimpse at the effects of Europe’s fourth warmest summer on record, in which a series of heatwaves hit countries from Italy to Germany and France. Temperatures reached up to 46 degrees Celsius in Spain and Portugal, and led to the deaths of several outdoor workers in Spain and Italy.’These numbers represent real people who have lost their lives,” said Friederike Otto, an Imperial College London climate science professor who co-authored the study alongside colleagues from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and other institutions. ‘If we continue on the path that we are now — continue burning fossil fuels — these deaths will only increase.