EU plans new firefighting fleet after deadly summer heat wave

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a European Heatwave Plan and a future EU-wide firefighting aircraft fleet, telling the European Parliament that this summer's heat and fires killed more than 35,000 people across the bloc and dried up rivers including the Danube, Rhine, and Garonne.

Von der Leyen's 35,000 death figure is triple the ‘excess death’ estimates from monitoring groups in July, and the commission did not explain its source. Fires in France and Spain displaced hundreds of thousands, shut down nuclear reactors in Hungary and France, and detonated century-old munitions on the Belgian-German border.

Von der Leyen said Europe is warming at twice the global rate and called this year's extremes ‘probably the coolest of the years to come.’ She also honored Danish helicopter pilot Rune Kyndal, who died fighting fires in Greece in August.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.