Bio-climatological aspects of summer 2003 over France

Abstract

The extreme heat wave of the first two weeks of August 2003 occurred during the hottest summer period (June to August) of the last fift y years and followed a six month period of drought. Moreover, this heat wave was outstanding in duration (lasting for two weeks) and in geographic extension (over all parts of the country, including mountains and coastal regions) with absolute temperature records in 70 out of 180 stations. Its tragic health impacts, with 15,000 excess deaths, were probably strongly intensified by the persistently high night temperatures on the one hand, by high levels of pollution on the other hand: in Paris, with serial data files since 1873, morning temperatures on the 11th and 12th August were the highest ever registered, with 25.5°C (previous record: 24°C in 1976). Ozone (O3) peaks were strong and frequent, accompanied with some NO2 unusual peaks, probably due to the absence of bracing wind. © World Health Organization 2005.