Topline
The vicious heat waves striking parts of the U.S., Mexico and Europe this July would have been “virtually impossible” without human-driven climate change, according to new research published Tuesday, a stark reminder of the need to rapidly transition to cleaner energy and that such deadly weather is set to become more commonplace in the future.
Key Facts
The intense heat waves hitting parts of North America, Europe and China this July illustrate the deadly consequences of burning fossil fuels, according to analysis from World Weather Attribution, an international network of scientists researching climate change.
Punishing heat waves in the U.S. and Europe, where temperatures have broken new records and triggered deadly fires, were made around 1,000 times more likely due to climate change, the group said.
The severe heat in China, where temperatures reached more than 52 Celsius (126 Fahrenheit), was around 50 times more likely to happen due to human-driven global warming than in the past.
As well as being more likely, elevated levels of greenhouse gasses from burning fossil fuels also drove up temperatures during the heatwaves, the group said, with the European heat wave approximately 2.5 Celsius hotter than it would have been, the North American heatwave 2 Celsius hotter and theChina event 1 Celsius hotter.
The group’s findings, which have yet to be peer reviewed, suggest July’s heat is likely to be commonplace in the future, with similarly severe events happening once every 15 years in the U.S. and Mexico, once every 10 years in southern Europe and once every 5 years in China.
Without drastic action to rapidly cut down on the burning of fossil fuels, such events will become even more common, the group warned, with heatwaves like recent ones set to happen every two-to-five years if the world heats up to 2 Celsius above preindustrial levels.
News Peg
July is likely to have been Earth’s hottest month on record and it set historic temperatures across the U.S., Europe and China. In addition to the direct and indirect health consequences of such extreme heat—of which there are many, including deaths in U.S. national parks—heat waves precipitate drought and water shortages, wildfires, flooding and other extreme weather events like tornadoes. The heat waves have brought the tourism business to a standstill in European hotspots like Greece, which is battling fierce wildfires, for example, and parts of the Eastern U.S. have faced deadly flooding. Extreme events like heat waves and storms are expected to increase in both frequency and magnitude as the Earth continues to warm to levels above preindustrial levels and experts warn significant action is needed rapidly to avert the worst consequences of the climate crisis.
Climate change role in July heatwaves ‘overwhelming’, scientists say (Reuters)
July 4 Was Earth’s Hottest Day In Over 100,000 Years—Breaking Record For 2nd Day In A Row (Forbes)
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