Climate change role in July heatwaves 'overwhelming', scientists say
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[July 25, 2023]
By David Stanway
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Human-induced climate change has played an
"absolutely overwhelming" role in the extreme heatwaves that have swept
across North America, Europe and China this month, according to an
assessment by scientists published on Tuesday.
Throughout July, extreme weather has caused havoc across the planet,
with temperatures breaking records in China, the United States and
southern Europe, sparking forest fires, water shortages and a rise in
heat-related hospital admissions.
Over the weekend, thousands of tourists were evacuated from the Greek
island of Rhodes to escape wildfires caused by a record-breaking
heatwave.
Without human-induced climate change, the events this month would have
been "extremely rare", according to a study by World Weather
Attribution, a global team of scientists that examines the role played
by climate change in extreme weather.
"European and North American temperatures would have been virtually
impossible without the effects of climate change," said Izidine Pinto of
the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, one of the study's
authors, during a briefing with journalists. "In China it was around 50
times more likely to happen compared to the past."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jul/25/images/ads/current/debbiesfloral_lda_060123.png)
The World Weather Attribution team estimated that rising greenhouse gas
concentrations made the European heatwave 2.5 Celsius (4.5 Fahrenheit)
hotter than it would otherwise have been. They also drove up the North
American heatwave by 2C and the one in China by 1C.
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![](../images/072523PIX/news_p15.jpg)
Roberto Klarich from Canada cools off at
a fountain near the Pantheon, after giving up queuing to enter
because it is too hot and the queue is too long, during a heatwave
across Italy as temperatures are expected to cool off in the Italian
capital, in Rome, Italy July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File
Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Jul/22/images/ads/current/rohlfs_lda_072017.png)
As well as directly impacting human health, the heat has caused
large-scale crop damage and livestock losses, the scientists said,
with U.S. corn and soybean crops, Mexican cattle, southern European
olives as well as Chinese cotton all severely affected.
El Nino probably contributed to the additional heat in some regions,
but rising greenhouse gases were the major factor, the scientists
said, and heatwaves will become increasingly likely if emissions are
not slashed.
They estimated that prolonged periods of extreme heat were likely to
hit every two to five years if average global temperatures rise 2C
above pre-industrial levels. Average temperatures are currently
estimated to have risen more than 1.1C.
"The events we have looked at are not rare in today's climate," said
Friederike Otto, a scientist with the Grantham Institute for Climate
Change in London, speaking at the briefing. "It's not surprising
from a climatological point of view, that these events are happening
at the same time."
"As long as we keep burning fossil fuels we will see more and more
of these extremes," she said. "I don't think there's any stronger
evidence that any science has ever presented for a scientific
question."
(Reporting by David Stanway; editing by Miral Fahmy)
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