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Without Climate Change, U.S. Heat Wave Called ‘Virtually Impossible’
The New York Times • • nation
Key Points:
- Scientists say the extreme heat and humidity experienced this week in the Northeast US and eastern Canada would have been virtually impossible before human-driven climate change.
- The study used wet bulb globe temperature, a heat stress metric factoring in humidity, wind, and sunlight, combining observed and forecast data to assess the event's rarity.
- Findings indicate the current heatwave has about a 0.5% chance of occurring annually today, but was effectively impossible in the pre-Industrial Revolution climate.
- The research, conducted by World Weather Attribution, highlights how greenhouse gas emissions have raised global temperatures, making such intense heat events more likely.
- This analysis underscores the profound shift in climate since America's founding, emphasizing the growing impact of global warming on extreme weather.
