A research by leading climate scientists from World Weather Attribution (WWA) has shown that the deadly heatwave that scorched large swaths of Mexico, Central America and the southern US in recent weeks was made 35 times more likely due to human-induced global heating.
Available reports show that tens of millions of people have endured dangerous daytime and nighttime temperatures as a heat dome engulfed Mexico, and the large, lingering zone of high pressure stretched north to Texas, Arizona and Nevada and south over Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
A heatwave can be caused by several factors including a heat dome, which traps hot air close to the ground, blocking cool air from entering and causing temperatures to rise and stay high for days or weeks.
Recall that In May and early June, the heat dome hovered over the region, breaking multiple daily and national records, and causing widespread misery and disruption, especially among the poorest and most marginalized communities.
The WWA analysis found that such extreme heat spells are four times more likely today than they were at the turn of the millennium, when the planet was 0.5C cooler.
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“Unsurprisingly, heatwaves are getting deadlier … we’ve known about the dangers of climate change at least since the 1970s. But thanks to spineless politicians, who give in to fossil-fuel lobbying again and again, the world continues to burn huge amounts of oil, gas and coal,” said Friederike Otto, co-author of the study and senior lecturer in climate science at Grantham Institute, at Imperial College London.
Extreme heat increases the rates of cardiovascular, respiratory and renal diseases, as well as threatening to overwhelm power supplies, healthcare facilities and other infrastructure.
At least 125 people have died and thousands more have suffered heatstroke in Mexico since March, when the temperature hit almost 52C on 13 June – the hottest June day ever recorded in the country. The extreme heat exacerbated severe drought and air pollution, stoking power outages, water shortages, thousands of wildfires and a mass die-off of endangered monkeys and birds. The actual mortality and morbidity toll is still unknown.
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