Climate change remains one of the biggest problems for humanity.
Despite the mitigation efforts taken by governments, every year the crisis seems to accelerate.
A new report has concluded that ten of the most extreme weather events have been exacerbated by climate change, contributing to the deaths of 570,000 people.
New study for Climate Change
According to The Independent, scientists stress that it is now urgent to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to rising temperatures as quickly as possible. The reason is that the average temperature increase will rise by three degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
It’s noted that the study comes from the World Weather Attribution group and is published on the 10th anniversary of its creation in 2014 to examine the impact of change on extreme events.
What are the ten deadliest events
These events include three local cyclones, four heat waves one drought and two floods. Included in these events is the heatwave of 2022 that took over much of Europe, leading to tens of thousands of deaths.
The analysis also looks at the European heatwaves of 2015 and 2023, the ultimate of which saw temperatures in the western Mediterranean that would have been” insolvable” without climate change.
In all 10 events” we see the fingerprints of climate change”, which made them more violent and more likely, the scientists said.
“Countries need to step up their efforts”
“Climate change is not a distant threat,” said Dr. Friederike Otto, co-founder and head of the World Weather Attribution at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London.
Furthermore, she adds, “Countries should step up their preparations, including implementing early warning systems and building resilience in cities. Also, they can ensure that the infrastructure, such as dams, is resilient, so that they do not collapse.”
She nonetheless stressed that” There are limits to how important communities can acclimatize to some of the world’s most extreme events. And these will become more frequent as reactionary energy use continues to drive up global temperatures.”
The 10 deadliest events
The weather events exacerbated by climate change are the following:
- 2008: cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, which caused 4,234 deaths:
- 2010: cyclone Nargis, in southern Myanmar, which caused 138,366 deaths
- 2011: heatwave, western Russia, caused 55,736 deaths
- 2013: drought in Somalia, caused 258,000 deaths and in India, 6,054 deaths
- 2015: Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines, 7,354 death
- 2022: European heatwave, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Greece, Romania, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Greece, Romania, Portugal, United Kingdom, 53,542 deaths
- 2023: European heatwave, Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, France, France, Romania, 37,129 deaths
- 2023: Hurricane Daniel in Libya – 12,352 deaths.
