A recent study has unveiled that 55 heat waves over the past quarter-century would not have occurred without human-induced climate change. This crucial research published in Nature confirms that planet-warming emissions from 180 major cement, oil, and gas producers significantly contributed to the heat events studied, which included a total of 213 heat waves from 2000 to 2023.
The findings indicate that these major polluters account for 57% of all carbon dioxide emissions from 1850 to 2023. Sonia Seneviratne, a climate professor at ETH Zurich and a contributor to the study, commented that a small number of actors are responsible for a substantial portion of these emissions, underscoring the ease of linking their actions to extreme weather events.
The collective data obtained from the EM-DAT International Disaster Database reveals that not all heat waves analyzed were suitable for the current research. Of the upper figure, 213 examined heat waves, the study asserts that global warming made all of them more likely, with 55 being 10,000 times more likely to have occurred than before the acceleration of industrialization in the 1800s. These heat waves, according to Seneviratne, had significant consequences, particularly the extraordinary heat wave in Europe in 2022 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.
Experts are recognizing the need for accountability, with calls for examination into how these findings could impact legal cases against fossil fuel producers. Many states are already passing laws to hold these companies accountable for emissions linked with climate change-related damage.
As climate scientists explore the influence of carbon emissions on weather extremes, it remains crucial for public discourse to shift toward identifying responsibility and addressing future prevention measures regarding climate change and extreme weather events.
