Climate change caused by humans played a direct role in the deaths of about 1,504 people during a heat wave that struck Europe last week, a new report has found.

Warming linked to the combustion of fossil fuels nearly tripled the number of heat-related fatalities that occurred during the June 23 to July 2 period, according to the report, published by the Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute.

Human-induced warming, which increased heatwave temperatures by up to 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit), was responsible for about 65 percent of the total 2,305 heat-related deaths, the data showed.

The researchers, who also worked with scientists at the........

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