In a new review paper, scientists have finally confirmed the link between human-induced climate change and some extreme weather events.
The paper shows that human activities have a direct effect on certain types of weather events, including heat waves and heavy rainfall.
The current heatwave in Europe is likely to be one to three degrees hotter as a result of climate change. Roughly three-quarters of the country's population were issued red or orange heat alerts in France's earliest heatwave ever reported.
“I think we can very confidently say that every heatwave occurring today has been made more intense and more likely because of climate change,” says climate scientist Dr. Friederike Otto, who co-authored the study,
Otto believes the research will be beneficial to governments, insurers, and economists preparing for major weather occurrences.
The report, however, warns that significant gaps in data from many parts of the world continue to obscure the actual scope of climate change damage - and explains what needs to happen.
Furthermore, according to the researchers, heatwaves are becoming ten times more common in some areas because of climate change, and heavy rainfall is almost twice as likely in some places of the world.
Otto warns that incorrectly attributing extreme weather to climate change is a serious problem.
“We should be careful not to overestimate the impact of climate change because it takes the responsibility away from locally addressing problems,” she says.