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Description
Flashcards by Molly Atkinson, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Molly Atkinson
about 11 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| General facts about the Heatwave? | The 2003 European heat wave was one of the hottest summers on record in Europe, especially in France. The heat wave led to health crises in several countries and combined with drought to create a crop shortfall in Southern Europe. More than 52,000 Europeans died as a result of the heat wave. |
| What were come causes of the heatwave? | An anticyclone stationed above western Europe prevented precipitation and led to record high temperatures over sustained periods. Temperatures rose to 20-30% above average in Europe during the heat wave, with nightly temperatures hotter than the average summer mid-day highs. The heat affected France in particular where temperatures sustained highs of 37°C for more then a week in August in some areas. |
| What were social impacts of the heatwave? | In France, 14,802 people—mostly elderly—died from heat. As a consequence of the usually relatively mild summers, most people do not know how to react to very high temperatures and most homes and retirement homes are not equipped with air conditioning. The heat wave occurred in August, a month in which many people, including government ministers and physicians, are on holiday. Many bodies were not claimed for many weeks because relatives were on holiday. The administration of President Jacques Chirac and laid the blame on families who had left their elderly behind without caring for them, the 35-hour workweek, which affected the amount of time doctors could work and family practitioners vacationing in August. Many companies traditionally closed in August, so people had no choice about when to vacation. Family doctors were still in the habit of vacationing at the same time. The opposition, have blamed the government. Many blamed the Health Minister for failing to return from his vacation when the heat wave became serious, and his aides for blocking emergency measures in public hospitals (such as the recalling of physicians). They blamed the government for ignoring warnings from health and emergency professionals and trying to minimize the crisis. |
| What were environmental impacts of the heatwave? | Crops suffered from drought in Southern Europe, but in the north they did very well. France had 20% less wheat harvested as a result. • France - 20% Many other countries had shortfalls of 5–10%, and the EU total production was down by 10 million tonnes, or 10%. Grapes Because of the heatwave, the harvest was started much earlier than usual (e.g. in mid-August for areas that are normally harvested in September).It is predicted that the wines from 2003, although in scarce quantity, will have exceptional quality, especially in France. |
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