In July 2024, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and Morocco experienced an extreme heatwave that claimed at least 23 lives and caused widespread forest fires. Studies show that such extreme heat events would not be possible without anthropogenic climate change. In the Mediterranean region, temperatures would have been around 3°C lower without climate change. Without a drastic reduction in fossil fuels, such events will become more frequent, more intense and last longer.
You can read the full article from World Weather Attribution with key messages at the end here.
Further information on heat can be found in our current newsletter “Heat“.