MOSCOW, August 5 It is difficult to say that abnormal heat waves are happening more and more often in the world; so far, nothing can compare to the disasters of 2003 in Western Europe and 2010 in Russia in terms of consequences and number of victims, said Mikhail Lokoschenko, a leading researcher at the Department of Meteorology and Climatology of the Geography Faculty of Moscow State University.
«Western Europe experienced a severe heat wave in the summer of 2003. According to doctors, about 70,000 people died from the heat. It was a huge catastrophe. There was nothing like it before or since. The second place in the series of such events is taken by the heat wave in European Russia in the summer of 2010. According to experts, 55,000 people died then,» Lokoshchenko said.
According to him, the phenomena of abnormally high temperatures in Western Europe in 2003 and in the European part of Russia in 2010 «stand completely apart,» and not a single heat wave since then «has even come close» to them in terms of catastrophic consequences and the number of deaths.
«It is difficult to say that heat waves are happening more and more often, because 20 years have passed and there has been nothing similar in Western Europe. There have been cases of abnormal heat, but they were not as long-lasting and not as strong,» the climatologist added.