Searing heat this week made ‘100 times more likely’ by climate change – study

A rapid study by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) research group also found the current heatwave in the south-east of England was around 10 times more likely than without human activity warming the planet. But without humans warming the atmosphere by around 1.3C since pre-industrial times, such a heatwave would only have occurred about once every 50 years, the study shows. Heat of that level could be expected in June once in 25 years in the current climate, but only once in 2,500 years in June before industrialisation, the researchers said. “With every fraction of a degree of warming, the UK will experience hotter, more dangerous heatwaves. “Making our societies more equal is essential to reduce the impacts of climate change,” Dr Otto said.