Dozens of heatwaves linked to carbon emissions from specific companies

"I cannot as a scientist assign legal responsibilities for these events,"

"What I can say is that each one of these carbon majors is contributing to heatwaves, making them more intense and also making them more likely."

"This study adds to a growing but still small literature showing it's now possible to draw causal connections between individual emitters and the hazards from climate change,"

Attribution methods now trace storms, droughts and heatwaves back to greenhouse-gas emissions from individual energy giants, linking specific companies to particular events. Around one-quarter of heatwaves recorded from 2000–2023 are directly connected to emissions from major carbon emitters. More than one-quarter of the 213 recorded events would have been virtually impossible without human-induced global warming. Emissions tied to energy companies increased the likelihood of about 53 heatwaves by factors exceeding 10,000. Those connections are being used as evidence in legal actions, including a US$52-billion civil lawsuit by an Oregon county over the 2021 Pacific Northwest heatwave.

Read at Nature