By Ron Brackett
More than 1,500 people died in France (click here) during summer heat waves that set record high temperatures in many parts of Europe, the country's health minister said Sunday.
Agnes Buzyn, speaking on France Inter radio Sunday, said the figure was more than 1,000 deaths above the annual average for the time of the year, according to the Associated Press.
She said there were 18 days of recorded heat waves in France this year during June and July.
France set a new national high temperature during a heat wave June 25-30 when temperatures soared to 114.6 degrees Fahrenheit at Gallargues-le-Montueux in Gard, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
On July 25, Paris' maximum temperature soared to 108.7 degrees Fahrenheit. The July 2019 average temperature for France was 73.4 F or 4 degrees above average, NOAA said.
Buzyn said a public relations campaign about the dangers of heat saved many lives in France this summer. She also noted that the 1,500 deaths this year were far fewer than in a heat wave in 2003 that claimed 15,000 lives.
"We have succeeded — thanks to prevention, thanks to workable messages the French population heeded — to reduce fatalities by a factor of 10," she said.
In addition to France, the heat wave this past June shattered record high temperatures in seven other European nations, including Germany....
