Heatwaves to hit China once every 5 years as global extreme weather events multiply, study finds

The results of the World Weather Attribution study paint a grim picture for the planet’s future unless more is done to urgently phase out fossil fuels

‘Tens of thousands of people will keep dying’ from heat each year if the world doesn’t ‘invest in decreasing vulnerability’, one scientist warned

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People cool off by a fan as they wait for seats at a restaurant during a heatwave in Beijing last week. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:00pm, 25 Jul 2023

Record-breaking heatwaves that have scorched North America, Europe and China are set to worsen in future unless the world stops burning fossil fuels, according to a study by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) academic initiative.

As a result of climate change, China is now 50 times more likely to experience heatwaves that previously occurred only once in 250 years, the study said. Such severe heat in North America and Europe, meanwhile, is virtually unprecedented.

Scientists crunched weather data and computer model simulations – taking into account the 1.2-degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) rise in average global temperatures since the late 1800s – to conclude that heatwaves are no longer rarity because of fossil fuel use.

“Events like these can now be expected approximately once every 15 years in North America, about once every 10 years in southern Europe, and approximately once every five years in China,” the WWA study said.

Tourists walk under a mist machine at a coffee shop to cool down in Athens, Greece on Sunday. Photo: Xinhua

Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, said the results of the study were “not surprising”.