Rapid global warming has broken heat records in Canada and Siberia, according to a new study.
Forest fires in British Columbia, Canada, are being extinguished in early July. Foto: Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP / AP / NTB
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The findings of the study, published in Nature Climate Change, suggest that humanity will experience more deadly heat waves in the coming decades.
– Because we are in a period where the warming is going very fast, we have to prepare for more heat events that will break previous records by large margins, says lead author of the study, Erich Fischer at the ETH University in Zurich.
During the heat wave in British Columbia in Canada in June, it was measured 49.6 degrees. This was over five degrees warmer than the previous temperature record in the country.
Today’s warming rate – around 0.2 degrees per decade – will continue for the next 10 to 20 years regardless of what humanity manages to do to slow global warming, according to the study.
But measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions will be paid for later, the researchers believe.
Until now, climate research has focused on how global warming affects heat waves compared to a given period in the past. Although it is still considered important, researchers are now increasingly also looking at how decisive the pace of warming can be.
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