This week’s heatwave is the hottest ever recorded in Europe, as well as the most humid, and it is likely to cause thousands of deaths.
Although a potential “super El Niño” is forming in the Pacific Ocean, this did not play a role in the heatwave, a study by the World Weather Attribution network of scientists has found. Instead, global warming is clearly to blame.
The study analysed how likely the average daily maximum temperature projected for 26 to 28 June in western and central Europe would have been in the cooler climates of 1976 and of 2003.
While the weather pattern – a low-pressure heat dome that is trapping hot air from the south – is not unusual, the temperatures are. 50 years ago, a typical June heatwave would have been about 3.5°C cooler, and the temperatures seen over the next three days would have been a less than one-in-10,000-year occurrence.
Daytime temperatures have exceeded 44°C (111°F) in one French town, and nighttime temperatures have remained above 30°C (86°F) in parts of Spain.
Source: www.newscientist.com
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