A research report by experts released on Tuesday, July 25, concludes that human-induced climate change has had an "overwhelming" role in the unprecedented heatwaves that have spread over North America, Europe, and China this month of July.
July has been marked by record-breaking temperatures in China, the US, and southern Europe, which have led to forest fires, water shortages, and an increase in heat-related hospital admissions throughout the world.
This weekend, wildfires sparked by the island's unprecedented temperatures forced the evacuation of thousands of tourists from Rhodes, Greece.
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Evidence Points to Climate Change
Human-induced climate change has caused "overwhelming" heatwaves worldwide in July, according to research. They also said growing greenhouse emissions were the major cause.
Based on research by World Weather Attribution, a worldwide group of scientists that investigate the effect of climate change on severe weather, the occurrences this month would have been extremely rare if not for human-induced climate change.
According to Reuters, Izidine Pinto of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and one of the study's authors said in a press conference, "European and North American temperatures would have been virtually impossible without the effects of climate change... In China, it was around 50 times more likely to happen compared to the past."
The World Weather Attribution group calculated that the European heatwave was 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than it would have been without increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. As a result, they contributed to a 2 degrees Celsius increase in the North American heatwave and a 1 degrees Celsius increase in China.
Scientists have reported widespread agricultural damage and animal losses due to the heat, particularly on maize and soybean crops in the US, cattle in Mexico, olives and cotton in southern Europe, and then China.
Growing Levels of Greenhouse Gases
Some of the extra heat was undoubtedly caused by El Niño, but experts agreed that rising greenhouse gases were the main driver. They warned that heatwaves would grow more often if emissions were not reduced.
If average global temperatures reach 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels, they predict that lengthy bouts of intense heat will occur every two to five years. At this time, it is believed that average temperatures have increased by more than 1.1 degrees Celsius.
Friederike Otto, a scientist from London's Grantham Institute for Climate Change, said during the briefing, "The events we have looked at are not rare in today's climate ... It's not surprising from a climatological point of view, that these events are happening at the same time."
She predicted that these extremes would increase so long as fossil fuels were being used. She added, "I don't think there's any stronger evidence that any science has ever presented for a scientific question."
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