First modification: 29/07/2022 – 08:10Last modification: 29/07/2022 – 08:09
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Paris (AFP) – Climate change caused by human activity has made this month’s record heat wave in the UK at least 10 times more likely, according to research released on Friday.
An international team of researchers modeled what an extreme heat event would have looked like before the start of the industrial age in the mid-19th century.
They later compared that possibility to that of a heat wave in the current climate, that is, with the planet almost 1.2ºC warmer on average than in the pre-industrial era.
They focused on maximum temperatures in the most affected British regions, such as central England and eastern Wales, and determined that the record heat was 10 times more likely due to greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
According to the study, extreme heat events in Europe have increased more than climate models anticipated.
The east of England recorded a record high temperature of 40.3C, a heat wave that sparked fires that destroyed dozens of houses in London.
At least 34 British towns recorded record temperatures on July 20, when the heat wave reached its highest point in Western Europe.
“In Europe and other parts of the world we are seeing more and more record heat waves that are rising in temperature faster than in most climate models,” said Friederike Otto, senior professor of climate sciences at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change. from Imperial College London.
“Of concern is the finding that suggests that if carbon emissions are not cut quickly, the consequences of climate change on extreme heat in Europe, which is already deadly, may be worse than originally thought,” he added.
© 2022 AFP
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