Europe’s latest heatwave would have been between 2 °C and 4 °C cooler in a pre-industrial climate, according to a new multi-country attribution study released this week. Researchers say the finding provides further evidence that human-driven global warming is sharply intensifying the region’s temperature extremes. The hotter conditions are already translating into higher mortality. France’s public-health agency reported 109 drowning deaths between 1 June and 2 July, a 58 % increase on the same period last year, and linked the spike to people seeking relief from the heat in unsupervised waterways. In the United States, Maryland’s Department of Health said heat has killed 11 residents so far this summer, eight of them in June. Long-term projections point to a steep rise in casualties unless adaptation accelerates. A University College London-led analysis warns that heatwaves could claim about 34,000 lives annually in England and Wales by the 2070s—roughly 50 times today’s toll. New York City, which now averages 525 premature heat-related deaths each summer, reaches similar conclusions in a separate report on local risks. Public-health officials across Europe and North America are urging governments to expand early-warning systems, increase access to air-conditioning and strengthen urban cooling infrastructure as record temperatures continue to remake summer norms.