The deadly heat wave that hit the United States, Mexico and Central America in late May and early June was made 35 times more likely by climate change, experts from the World Weather Attribution reference network estimated Thursday ( WWA).
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The extreme temperatures reached during this episode in May and June in these regions are now four times more likely to be repeated in the current climate than 25 years ago, further underlined the WWA, which regularly assesses the link between extreme weather events around the world and climate change.
Heatwaves have always happened, but climate change, caused by more than a century of massive burning of coal, oil and gas, is making them more intense and more frequent. Heat kills more than hurricanes or floods around the world.
Temperatures have broken heat records in Mexico since March, causing the death of at least 125 people and the illness of thousands.
“We do not yet have all the details of deaths caused by heat, which are sometimes only reported months after they occur, if at all,” the scientific network stressed.
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For these experts, the continued use of fossil fuels and therefore greenhouse gas emissions will expose millions of additional people to dangerous heat waves in the future.
May 2024 was the hottest May on record worldwide, becoming the 12th consecutive month to break its own record, according to Europe’s Copernicus Observatory.
Greece is in the grip of its first heatwave of the year, which has never occurred so early in June.
India experiences scorching temperatures in the hot season, but this year the heat waves have been exceptional, with temperature records broken.
And in Saudi Arabia, more than 900 deaths have been recorded during the major annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage in recent days, most of them due to the heatwave, as temperatures reached 51.8°C.
For the study released Thursday, WWA experts analyzed the warmest five consecutive days and nights of the “heat dome” that hit the southwest United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize , El Salvador and Honduras, at the end of May and beginning of June.
They concluded that global warming had increased the temperature over these 5 days by 1.4°C, and multiplied the probability of such an event by 35, compared to a climate without the warming caused by human activities.
“This additional 1.4 degrees caused by climate change meant the difference between life and death for many people in May and June,” said Karina Izquierdo of the Red Cross Climate Center.
Heat waves particularly affect the elderly, children and people who work outdoors, especially in Mexico and Central America where housing is less resistant to heat and people are less able to cool down at night.
