They drew attention to climate change for the cause of extreme heat

Scientists say the extreme heatwave in the Mediterranean would have been impossible without climate change. They pointed to fossil fuels in particular for the negative impact of the heat.


Mediterranean countries have struggled with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius this month. In Morocco, 21 people lost their lives due to the heat, while forest fires increased in Portugal and Greece, and Italy and Spain experienced water shortages and droughts. At the Olympic Games in France, the heat reached levels that put the health of athletes and spectators at risk.

An attribution analysis by the World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international team of scientists, examined the link between climate change and the extreme heatwave that hit much of Europe and North Africa this month. Scientists from universities and meteorological organizations in the UK, the US, Sweden and the Netherlands conducted the study.

The scientists found that this month's extreme heat would have been impossible without global warming caused by human activities such as deforestation and the use of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal. According to the analysis, extreme heat in July is no longer a rare weather event. In the current climate, where average temperatures have risen by 1.3 degrees Celsius compared to the average temperature before the industrial revolution due to global warming caused by human activities, extremely hot Julys have become possible about once every 10 years.

In addition, air temperatures in Europe are 2.5 to 3.3 degrees warmer than the average temperature before the industrial revolution due to climate change.

Commenting on the analysis, Friederike Otto, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at the Department of Climate Change and Environment at Imperial College London's Grantham Institute, said climate change has also hit the Olympics.

Otto said, “The world watched as athletes suffocated in 35-degree heat. If the atmosphere had not been overloaded with emissions from burning fossil fuels, Paris would have been about 3 degrees cooler and much safer for sports. Also, unfortunately, many people in the Mediterranean don't have the luxury of ice packs, air conditioning or a cool down break at work. For these people, extreme heat can mean death.”

Mariam Zachariah, a researcher at the Department of Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London's Grantham Institute, said that the dangerous heat scorching the Mediterranean Sea reveals the extent of climate change.

“Europe is warming twice as fast as other continents and even faster than climate models predict. Climate change is not a distant threat.”