Our overheating planet made summer heat worse around the world, according to a recent study. Researchers say at least one out of every five people on the planet was noticeably affected by our warming world.
Earth had its third-warmest August and summer on record this year. Europe was especially hit hard.
Research from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London found that a staggering 16,500 additional deaths that occurred this summer across Europe can be attributed to "climate change-driven" heat.
Now, another new study from nonprofit Climate Central found that our warming world contributed to dangerous summer heat that impacted several million people in the U.S. and about 20% of the planet's population in total.
The global analysis found that "the effects of carbon pollution (mainly from burning coal, oil, and methane gas) influenced temperatures in nearly all regions of the world during the past three months." Those effects were most pronounced during meteorological summer (June to August) in locations across the Northern Hemisphere.
Climate Central's scientists developed a tool they call the "Climate Shift Index" to quantify the influence our overheating planet is having on the weather. The Climate Shift Index used real-time data and peer-reviewed research to determine how our warming world increased the odds of a day's temperature.
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"Positive CSI levels 1 to 5 indicate temperatures that are increasingly likely because of climate change," explained Climate Central researchers. "A CSI level 2 means temperatures that day were made twice as likely by climate change."
The study showed that each summer day, at least 1.8 billion people, around 22% of the global population, dealt with temperatures that were made at least twice as likely (CSI level 2 or higher) by the planet's warming climate. This summer, the average American felt a warming world's strong fingerprint (CSI 2+) on about 21 days between the start of June and the end of August.
Climate Central determined there were more "risky heat days" as a result of a warming world, too. To get that designation, the day must be hotter than 90% of temperatures observed for a location between 1991 and 2020. Researchers looked at 247 U.S. cities and every state in the country.
"In all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., the average person experienced at least one additional week's worth of risky heat this summer because of climate change," said the authors of the study. "Thirty-two U.S. cities — home to more than 21 million people collectively — experienced 30 or more risky heat days added by climate change."
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The Climate Central study on summer heat illustrates how the buildup of heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere is supercharging extreme weather.
The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that our warming world has increased the intensity and frequency of heat waves since the 1950s, and this trend is expected to continue with further warming.
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