Human-induced climate change has played a major role in the severe heatwaves that swept North America, Europe and China in the month of July, according to an assessment by scientists published on Tuesday.
A study by World Weather Attribution (WWA), a team of international scientists who research the role of climate change in extreme weather events, showed that human-induced climate change has contributed to this rare weather condition.
WWA 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.
Throughout July, extreme weather has caused damage across the planet, with temperatures breaking records in China, the United States and southern Europe, causing forest fires, water shortages and a rise in heat-related hospital admissions.
One of the study’s authors from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute Izidine Pinto said that the rise of temperatures in Europe and North America would have been virtually impossible without the effects of climate change, and that in China it was around 50 times more likely to happen compared to the past.
Over the weekend, many people were evacuated from the Greek island of Rhodes to escape wildfires caused by a record-breaking heatwave.
Source: Qatar News Agency