(((It's been remarkably hot here in Belgrade, with violent afternoon thunderstorms.)))
Link: Planet Ark : Five More Die as Southeast Europe Sizzles .
Five More Die as Southeast Europe Sizzles
ROMANIA: June 27, 2007
BUCHAREST - Four more Romanians have died from a heatwave gripping parts of southeast Europe, health officials said on Tuesday, raising the region's death toll from the past few days to at least 30.
All four were elderly people who died of breathing or heart problems brought on by the heat, the health ministry said. (((It's a relatively rare fate to actually drop dead directly from the warming in global warming, but it's a fate awaiting many an aging veteran of the 20th century.)))
In western Turkey, a 60-year-old man collapsed on a beach and later died in hospital as temperatures there hit 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit). Turkey's western regions reduced working hours for state officials and authorities urged the elderly and children to stay at home, out of the heat.
In Greece, where the scorching weather has killed five people in the past two days, air conditioning systems working flat out pushed energy consumption towards an all-time high, (((fossil-fuel consumption, needless to say))) and state offices closed early at noon to conserve power supplies. Temperatures soared to 46 Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) in some parts of the country on Monday, and authorities expected the heatwave to continue for at least another three days, making this Greece's hottest June ever.
With memories of a 1987 heatwave that killed hundreds, health officials said unnecessary travel should be avoided. "We have 100 ambulances stationed and on full alert in the capital," emergency services chief Nikos Papaefstathiou said....
