Damned if we do but completely stuffed if we don't': heatwaves will worsen longer net zero is delayed

"Heatwaves will become hotter, longer and more frequent the later net zero emissions is reached globally, new research suggests. Scientists at the ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather and Australia's national science agency, the CSIRO, simulated how heatwaves would respond over the next 1,000 years, examining the differences for each five-year delay in reaching net zero between 2030 and 2060."

"The research, published in the journal Environmental Research Climate, found that for countries near the equator, delaying net zero until 2050 would result in heatwave events that break current historical records at least once yearly. Can Cop30 begin the process of phasing out fossil fuels? The study also suggests that heatwaves will not revert back towards preindustrial conditions for at least a millennium after net zero is reached,"

"The thing with net zero and heat waves is: we're damned if we do, but we're completely stuffed if we don't, the study's lead author, Prof Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick of the Australian National University, said. We're already locked into a certain amount of warming. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter Stabilising global heating at 1.5C or 2C would still result in impacts that we haven't yet experienced, including worse heatwaves, she said."

Heatwaves will become hotter, longer and more frequent the later net-zero emissions is reached globally. Simulations over the next 1,000 years examined five-year delays in reaching net zero between 2030 and 2060. For equatorial countries, delaying net zero until 2050 yields heatwaves that break historical records at least once yearly. Heatwaves will not revert toward preindustrial conditions for at least a millennium after net zero. Stabilising global heating at 1.5C or 2C still produces unprecedented impacts, including worse heatwaves. Longer delays in net zero amplify locked-in warming and greater future costs.

Read at www.theguardian.com