PARIS: Human-caused climate change is responsible for the intensity of the record-breaking heatwave scorching Europe, scientists said on Friday.
The World Weather Attribution group said such exceptional June temperatures would have been “virtually impossible” around 50 years ago.
According to the study, a similar heatwave would have been about 3.5 degrees Celsius cooler during the day in June 1976.
“This event would not have been possible in June without climate change,” said Theodore Keeping of Imperial College London, the study’s lead author.
Europe faces extreme heat
The planet has warmed by about 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, mainly due to the burning of coal, oil and gas. Scientists say this warming is making heatwaves more frequent and more intense.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, and tens of millions of people have faced extreme temperatures this week.
Friederike Otto, co-founder of World Weather Attribution, said the weather pattern itself was not unusual, but the temperatures were.
Heat stress danger
The study said the current heatwave would have been around 2 degrees Celsius cooler in June 2003, when a major European heatwave killed tens of thousands of people.
Scientists also warned of heat stress caused by high temperatures and humidity. Of nearly 850 European cities studied, about 45 per cent had broken or were expected to break June heat stress records.
