Scientists link hundreds of severe heat waves to fossil fuel producers' pollution

"The 2021 heat dome in the Pacific Northwest that overwhelmed emergency rooms and left hundreds dead. The 2022 heat wave in India that devastated the wheat harvest. The deadly heat waves in France in 2003, and China in 2013. A new study links these recent heat waves and more than 200 others to human-caused climate change, and the greenhouse gas pollution of major fossil fuel producers."

"The new study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, found that 213 heat waves were substantially more likely and intense because of the activity of major fossil fuel producers, also called carbon majors. They include oil, coal and cement companies, as well as some countries. The scientists found as much as a quarter of the heat waves would be "virtually impossible" without the climate pollution from major fossil fuel producers."

213 heat waves were substantially more likely and more intense because of greenhouse gas pollution from major fossil fuel producers, also called carbon majors. Oil, coal and cement companies and some countries contributed emissions that made as much as a quarter of these heat waves virtually impossible without their pollution. Individual companies including ExxonMobil, Chevron and BP had emissions large enough to drive some of the most extreme events. Heat waves have caused catastrophic impacts on health and economies, with the World Health Organization estimating at least 489,000 annual deaths from heat between 2000 and 2019. Legal actions against fossil fuel companies are increasing, and attribution analyses are being used to quantify responsibility.

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