Skip to main content
MIT
Climate
Search

Main navigation

  • What We Know
  • What Can Be Done
  • Explore
    • Explainers
    • Ask MIT Climate
    • Podcast
  • News
  • Climate@MIT
  • Search

Main navigation

  • What We Know
  • What Can Be Done
  • Explore
    • Explainers
    • Ask MIT Climate
    • Podcast
  • News
  • Climate@MIT
  • Search
PostJuly 8, 2021

Climate change made the record-shattering Northwest heat wave 150 times more likely

Car driving through forest fire

Yes, blame climate change.

Human-driven global warming fueled the heat wave that likely killed hundreds of people last week across the US Pacific Northwest and Canada, writes James Temple for the MIT Technology Review.

The massive buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere made the unprecedented weather event 150 times more likely, according to an analysis by World Weather Attribution. The loosely affiliated team of global scientists concluded that the extreme heat wave would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change, which has already warmed the planet by about 2.2 ˚F (1.2 ˚C).

Scientists long resisted pinning any single weather event on climate change, sticking to the general point that it would make heat waves, droughts, fires, and hurricanes increasingly frequent and severe. But more satellite data records, increased computing power, and higher-resolution climate simulations have made researchers more confident about stating, often within days, that global warming substantially raised the odds of specific disasters. (See 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2020: Climate Change Attribution.)

Read the full article here: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/07/07/1027988/climate-change-made-the-record-shattering-northwest-heatwave-150-times-more-likely/

Image credits by: Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press via AP

Share
facebook linkedin twitter email compact
by MIT Technology Review
Topics
Adaptation
Atmosphere
Climate Modeling
Fossil Fuels
Drought
Heatwaves
Wildfires

Related Posts

PodcastJuly 22, 2021

E4: TIL about national security

TILclimate Podcast
PostJuly 21, 2021

Cities are scrambling to prevent flooding

MIT Technology Review
Abandoned cars are flooded with water after a 2014 storm in Detroit.
PostJuly 15, 2021

Challenges and Opportunities for Decarbonizing Power Systems in the US Midc...

MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research
PostJuly 14, 2021

How hot is too hot for the human body?

MIT Technology Review

MIT Climate News in Your Inbox

 
 

MIT Groups Log In

Log In

Footer

  • About
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility
  • Contact
Environmental Solutions Initiative
MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge MA 02139-4307