According to an analysis published Thursday, the heat records set in the Northern Hemisphere this summer were exacerbated by climate change. Even in the southern hemisphere, which is the coldest time of the year, temperatures are unusually high.
A study by the NGO Climate Center covering the period from June to August 2023 shows that projected greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere since the start of the industrial era have increased heat waves affecting Asia, Africa, and Europe. North America.
During this period, almost half of the world’s population, or about 3.8 billion people, experienced at least 30 days of extreme heat, which has been exacerbated by climate change. “Almost nobody on the planet has escaped the impact of global warming over the past three months,” said Andrew Pershing, vice president for science at the Center for Climate Change.
“In each of the countries we studied, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, this is the coldest time of year, and we observed temperatures that would have been difficult, if not impossible, to achieve without human-induced climate change,” he added. . ‘Pollution from carbon dioxide emissions is clearly responsible for this season’s record heat.’
Climate Change Index
The NGO relies on methods to determine the probability of a given daily temperature in each country, with or without current levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution. The same approach allowed scientists to measure the role of climate change in extreme weather events, such as the conditions that allowed large fires in Quebec this year.
The Climate Center has developed a Climate Change Index (CSI) ranging from -5 to 5, with levels above 0 indicating higher temperatures due to warming. For example, Stage 3 means climate change has tripled recorded temperatures.
From June to August, 48% of the world’s population experienced 30 days of temperatures corresponding to at least CSI level 3 and 1.5 billion people experienced it every day, according to NGO calculations.
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