"Heatwave in London" (Photo: David Mills/flickr/cc)
Sep 29, 2014
A new study has added to body of evidence linking human-caused climate change with extreme heat events.
Published Monday by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, the NOAA-led study investigated the causes of 16 extreme weather events in 2013 across four continents. This third such annual report covered analyses by 20 global research groups.
The analyses "overwhelmingly show" a link between the five heat waves included in the study--ones that hit Australia, Korea, Europe, Japan and China--and climate change. The effects of climate change mean more long-duration summer heat waves and overall warming annual temperatures are becoming as much as 10 times more likely, the study finds.
The link between climate change and other extreme events from 2013, including storms and droughts, was less clear, the authors write, thought they note: "A failure to find anthropogenic signals for several events examined in this report does not prove anthropogenic climate change had no role to play. Rather, an anthropogenic contribution to these events that is distinguishable from natural climate variability could not be detected by these analyses. Thus, there may have been an anthropogenic role, but these particular analyses did not find one."
The study's findings are important not only to understand how runaway emissions have fueled these events but to also better prepare for the ones to come, NOAA states.
"This annual report contributes to a growing field of science which helps communities, businesses and nations alike understand the impacts of natural and human-caused climate change," stated Thomas R. Karl, director of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. "The science remains challenging, but the environmental intelligence it yields to decision makers is invaluable and the demand is ever-growing."
"Results from this report not only add to our body of knowledge about what drives extreme events, but what the odds are of these events happening again--and to what severity," added Stephanie C. Herring, PhD, lead editor for the report at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Our Summer Campaign is now underway, and there’s never been a more urgent time for Common Dreams to be as vigilant as possible. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A new study has added to body of evidence linking human-caused climate change with extreme heat events.
Published Monday by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, the NOAA-led study investigated the causes of 16 extreme weather events in 2013 across four continents. This third such annual report covered analyses by 20 global research groups.
The analyses "overwhelmingly show" a link between the five heat waves included in the study--ones that hit Australia, Korea, Europe, Japan and China--and climate change. The effects of climate change mean more long-duration summer heat waves and overall warming annual temperatures are becoming as much as 10 times more likely, the study finds.
The link between climate change and other extreme events from 2013, including storms and droughts, was less clear, the authors write, thought they note: "A failure to find anthropogenic signals for several events examined in this report does not prove anthropogenic climate change had no role to play. Rather, an anthropogenic contribution to these events that is distinguishable from natural climate variability could not be detected by these analyses. Thus, there may have been an anthropogenic role, but these particular analyses did not find one."
The study's findings are important not only to understand how runaway emissions have fueled these events but to also better prepare for the ones to come, NOAA states.
"This annual report contributes to a growing field of science which helps communities, businesses and nations alike understand the impacts of natural and human-caused climate change," stated Thomas R. Karl, director of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. "The science remains challenging, but the environmental intelligence it yields to decision makers is invaluable and the demand is ever-growing."
"Results from this report not only add to our body of knowledge about what drives extreme events, but what the odds are of these events happening again--and to what severity," added Stephanie C. Herring, PhD, lead editor for the report at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.
A new study has added to body of evidence linking human-caused climate change with extreme heat events.
Published Monday by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, the NOAA-led study investigated the causes of 16 extreme weather events in 2013 across four continents. This third such annual report covered analyses by 20 global research groups.
The analyses "overwhelmingly show" a link between the five heat waves included in the study--ones that hit Australia, Korea, Europe, Japan and China--and climate change. The effects of climate change mean more long-duration summer heat waves and overall warming annual temperatures are becoming as much as 10 times more likely, the study finds.
The link between climate change and other extreme events from 2013, including storms and droughts, was less clear, the authors write, thought they note: "A failure to find anthropogenic signals for several events examined in this report does not prove anthropogenic climate change had no role to play. Rather, an anthropogenic contribution to these events that is distinguishable from natural climate variability could not be detected by these analyses. Thus, there may have been an anthropogenic role, but these particular analyses did not find one."
The study's findings are important not only to understand how runaway emissions have fueled these events but to also better prepare for the ones to come, NOAA states.
"This annual report contributes to a growing field of science which helps communities, businesses and nations alike understand the impacts of natural and human-caused climate change," stated Thomas R. Karl, director of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. "The science remains challenging, but the environmental intelligence it yields to decision makers is invaluable and the demand is ever-growing."
"Results from this report not only add to our body of knowledge about what drives extreme events, but what the odds are of these events happening again--and to what severity," added Stephanie C. Herring, PhD, lead editor for the report at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.