Every heatwave ‘more intense and more likely’ due to climate change

Every heatwave we witness today is more intense and probable because of climate change, scientists warn.

“The rise of more extreme and intense weather events such as heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall have dramatically increased in recent years, affecting people all over the globe. Understanding the role that climate change plays in these events can help us better prepare for them. It also allows us to determine the real cost that carbon emissions have in our lives,” said Ben Clarke, senior author of the study from the University of Oxford.

For others, like tropical cyclones, regions differ from one another according to the role climate change is playing in each event.

“We really don’t have a comprehensive overview or detailed inventory of what impacts climate change is having today, yet,” said Dr Friederike Otto of London’s Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, who co-authored the project.

Accounting for climate change in extreme weather situations must be improved in low- and middle-income countries with wide inequality and where the impact of rising global temperatures will be greatest, the study says.