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Heatwave - UK & Europe
Typhoon - Japan
Hurricane - USA
Wildfires - USA
Floods - France
Earthquake - Iran
Other events
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Catastrophe Report 4
July 8, 2003 - February 20, 2004
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Heat wave - UK and Europe
| Territory: |
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UK and Europe |
| Region: |
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UK, the Netherlands, France, Spain,
Portugal, Switzerland, northern Italy, Germany, Poland, eastern
Europe and the Balkans. |
| Date: |
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July – August, 2003 |
| Event: |
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Heat wave |
| Impact: |
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At least 20,000 people died as a result of the
unprecedented temperatures, and some estimates put the figure
as high as 35,000. Over 15,000 people, many elderly, died in
France and over 7,000 in Germany. Others death tolls are Italy
(4,175), Spain (4,300), UK (2,045), the Netherlands (1,400)
and Portugal (1,300). The heat triggered major wildfires in
many countries, including Italy, Poland, the Balkans, Spain,
France and Portugal, with the worst fires in Portugal and France.
A combination of the high temperatures, drought conditions and
wildfires devastated agriculture, particularly in France where
half of the 95 departements were forced to introduce water rationing.
The heat wave is estimated to have reduced the global grain
yield by 32 million tonnes as well as badly affecting the wine
crop. In the UK, speed limits were imposed on the railways due
to worries about heat-buckled tracks. In economic terms, the
event constituted the biggest loss of the year, at 15 billion
US$. Due to minimal insurance penetration in the agricultural
arena, however, only around one billion of this loss was borne
by the insurance market. Agricultural losses alone are set at
more than 10 billion US$. |
| Summary: |
|
A severe heat wave started in western Europe
during July and continued into the second half of August. Temperatures
reached 40 degrees C across much of the continent, peaking at
41 degrees in southern Spain, 40 in France, and 38.5 in northern
Italy. In the UK, the all-time maximum temperature record was
broken and Heathrow airport and later at Gravesend (Kent), where
temperatures reached 38.1 degrees C (100.6 degrees F). |
| Data sources: |
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NOAA. World Weather and Climate Events
http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/reports/weather-events.html#2003
Earth Policy Unit
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update29.htm |
| Additional sources: |
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NASA Earth Observatory
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=15783
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