Human-induced climate change has made recent extreme heat events in the US Southwest, Mexico, and Central America about 35 times more likely, according to scientists. The World Weather Attribution (WWA) group analyzed the excessive heat from May to early June, particularly affecting southwestern US states such as California, Nevada, and Arizona. During this time, extreme temperatures in Mexico also resulted in fatalities.
These attribution studies take time, so it is still too early for scientists to determine the exact impact of climate change on the current heatwave affecting the central US, northeast, and parts of Canada. However, the WWA’s new report indicates that such heatwaves are now four times more likely than in the year 2000, driven by emissions that warm the planet.
Experts note that many extreme weather events, including heatwaves, are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change. Izidine Pinto, a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, emphasized that the study’s findings serve as a warning about the dangerously increasing temperatures caused by climate change. He stated that continued fossil fuel emissions will exacerbate the heat, leading to more fatalities and higher living costs.
The WWA study concentrated on the US Southwest, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras, all of which experienced dangerously high temperatures. The scientists found that the hottest five-day period in June was made approximately 1.4°C warmer due to climate change.
Karina Izquierdo, an Urban Advisor for the Latin American and Caribbean region at the Red Cross Climate Centre, highlighted that every fraction of a degree of warming increases the risk of dangerous heat exposure. The additional 1.4°C caused by climate change could mean the difference between life and death for many people during extreme heat periods.
In Mexico, officials have attributed numerous deaths to the heatwave, which also led to the deaths of howler monkeys in Tabasco. The scientists stressed the health dangers of high night-time temperatures, which prevent the body from resting and recovering.
The WWA group conducts rapid-attribution studies globally to assess the impact of climate change on the severity of weather events. These studies compare current events against models that simulate conditions in a world without human-induced global warming.
