In a striking revelation, a recent peer-reviewed research report published late on Thursday has underscored the alarming extent of human-induced climate change. The study asserts that almost the entire global population endured elevated temperatures during the months of June to August.
The summer of 2023 in the northern hemisphere etched its name in the record books as the hottest on record, unleashing prolonged and devastating heatwaves across North America and southern Europe. These scorching conditions led to catastrophic wildfires and a surge in mortality rates. July, in particular, claimed the dubious distinction of being the hottest month ever recorded, while average August temperatures surpassed pre-industrial levels by a startling 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The research, conducted by Climate Central, a U.S.-based research group, scrutinized temperature data from 180 countries and 22 territories. It unveiled an alarming statistic: a staggering 98% of the world’s population faced heightened temperatures that were made at least twice more probable due to carbon dioxide pollution.
Andrew Pershing, Vice President for Science at Climate Central, soberly stated, “Virtually no one on Earth escaped the influence of global warming during the past three months.” The study’s reach extended across every nation, encompassing even the southern hemisphere, traditionally experiencing cooler temperatures during this time of the year. These findings laid bare the undeniable link between these soaring temperatures and human-caused climate change.
To ascertain the impact of climate change on heat events, Climate Central employed a method that compared observed temperatures with model-generated data that eliminated the influence of greenhouse gas emissions. The result? The heatwaves that wreaked havoc across North America and southern Europe would have been inconceivable without climate change. Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, emphasized that these heatwaves were not just five times more probable; they were made infinitely more likely by climate change, as they would not have occurred otherwise.
As many as 6.2 billion individuals experienced, on at least one occasion, average temperatures that were five times more likely due to climate change—an alarming revelation corroborated by Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index.
The summer of 2023 serves as a stark reminder of the pressing need for global action to mitigate climate change’s devastating impacts.
Reuters
