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A new report on climate in Europe found that last month — which saw a series of heat waves — was the hottest June in the western portion of the continent on record.

What’s more, the findings from the Copernicus ​Climate Change Service (C3S), which partnered with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts to produce the report, noted that last month was also the second-hottest June globally.

The report stated that the June heat wave “came only a few weeks after a particularly intense heatwave in May.” It also recognizes that another heat wave has emerged in July.

Temperatures this June were, on average, 1.78°C above the 1991-2020 average for June. In western Europe specifically, the temperature was 3°C higher than the averages seen during those years.

The heat was accompanied by dryness, which contributed to wildfires in southwestern Europe.

Study: Europe Heat Wave “Virtually Impossible” Without Human-Made Climate Change

Heat is responsible for more deaths in Europe each year than all other natural hazards combined. As temperatures broke records in several areas across the continent in June, more than 4,700 excess deaths were recorded in the countries of France, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands, with more excess death numbers in other countries expected to come.

While the El Niño phenomenon has contributed to rising sea temperatures this year, a separate study found that it did not play a role in........

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