World Weather Attribution

September 25, 2024 5:46 PM

Climate change doubles chance of floods like those in Central Europe, report says

Climate change has made downpours like the one that caused devastating floods in central Europe this month twice as likely to occur, a report said on Wednesday, as its scientific authors urged policymakers to act to stop global warming. The worst flooding to hit central Europe in at least two decades has left 24 people dead, with towns strewn with mud and debris, buildings damaged, bridges collapsed and authorities left with a bill for repairs that runs into billions of dollars. The report fro...

September 16, 2024 6:12 PM

Climate change boosted deadly Saudi haj heat by 2.5 C, scientists say

The heatwave in Saudi Arabia blamed for the deaths of 1,300 people on the haj pilgrimage this month was made worse by climate change, a team of European scientists said on Friday. Temperatures along the route from June 16 to 18 reached 47 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) at times and exceeded 51.8 C at Mecca's Great Mosque. The heat would have been approximately 2.5 C (4.5 F) cooler without the influence of human-caused climate change, according to a weather attribution analysis by Cli...

June 21, 2024 3:25 PM

How climate change fuels extreme heat worldwide

Climate change is driving dangerous heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere this week and will continue to deliver dangerous weather for decades to come, research shows. "It is a worldwide heat wave that we are now suffering. That puts the heat under our decisions," said Christiana Figueres, a former U.N. climate agency chief. Here's how climate change is pushing heat to new extremes. HOW IS CLIMATE CHANGE DRIVING HEAT? As the continued burning of fossil fuels releases more carbon emission...

June 20, 2024 6:33 PM

Millions sweltering under extreme heat worldwide as summer arrives

Dangerous heatwaves are scorching cities on four continents as the Northern Hemisphere marks the first day of summer, a sign that climate change may again bring about record-breaking heat that could surpass last summer as the warmest in 2,000 years. Countries around the Mediterranean have endured another week of blistering high temperatures that have contributed to forest fires from Portugal to Greece and along the northern coast of Africa in Algeria, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and ...

May 1, 2024 11:26 AM

El Nino, water management issues blamed for snarling Panama Canal

The El Nino climate phenomenon, not climate change, drove lower rainfall last year that reduced the Panama Canal's water levels and contributed to shipping restrictions that disrupted global trade, a study released on Wednesday found. Prioritizing water for human consumption rather than for the canal also played a role in shipping restrictions, according to the study by research consortium World Weather Attribution. Panama experienced its third-driest year on record in 2023, leading the canal ...