Climate change is driven by carbon emissions and human-driven production. A new study shows these implications on the current global heat wave.
61,000 people died during the 2022 heat waves due to extreme temperatures. A record number set to be broken again this year as the world reaches the highest average temperatures ever documented in human history.
"Such heatwaves are no longer rare and the most important thing is, these extremes kill people, particularly destroying the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable,” said Dr. Friederike Otto at Imperial College London.
Dr. Friederike was part of a recent analysis showing that human-driven carbon emissions are directly linked with the lethality and severity of these heat waves. According to the study, heatwaves in the United States are made 4400 times more likely by carbon emissions, in Europe they are made 950 times more likely, and 50 times in China.
Southern Europe is traversed every summer by El Niño, a natural phenomenon causing severe increases in average temperatures. Nevertheless, global heating caused by emissions increases the severity of such a phenomenon, as record temperatures show.
Other than increased deaths in the more vulnerable population, extreme health could destroy the $3 trillion European tourism industry, most heavily concentrated in the summer.
Recently, German healthcare minister Karl Lauterbach, on a visit to Italy, tweeted "The heat wave is spectacular here. If things continue like this, these holiday destinations will have no future in the long term. Climate change is destroying Southern Europe."
Policy solutions
"We still have time to secure a safe and healthy future,” said Dr. Friederike. “If we do not, tens of thousands of people will keep dying from heat-related causes each year."
But actions are always too slow and climate change always too fast. Germany, the same country believing climate change could destroy Southern Europe, is ramping up coal production and phasing out nuclear power plants.
Overall, despite many steps in the right direction, countries are not willing to sacrifice production to focus on energy transition. China, for example, is the fastest-growing solar energy producer and the largest oil importer at the same time. India is one of the best-performing countries according to the Paris Agreement criteria, but 80% of its energy comes from fossil fuels.
Scientists and climate experts keep warning that the window of opportunity for a sustainable future is closing down.
Extreme climate events disrupt global production and some argue they cost more than keeping fossil fuel production running. Recent extreme flooding in Central Italy deteriorated the country’s PIL by 2.2%, a total of €38 billion. In general, estimates put the economic toll of climate disasters in the past 50 years at $4,3 trillion.
At the COP28 meeting starting next November, scientists will push for further global action on the issue. Is the extreme summer heat going to be remembered by politicians?
Argomenti
