Climate change made Europe’s 2019 record heatwave up to ‘100 times more likely’
August 2，2019
The run of unprecedented temperatures in July – which sent records tumbling in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany – would have been “extremely unlikely” without climate change, according to a new quick-fire analysis.
The hot weather seen in the Netherlands and France was made up to “100 times more likely” by climate change, the study finds.
And the heat in Cambridge in the UK – which saw a new country-wide record of 38.7C in July – was made around “20 times more likely” by human-caused warming.
The findings come from the latest analysis from the World Weather Attribution network. “Attribution” refers to a fast-growing field of science that aims to quantify the “fingerprint” of climate change on extreme-weather events.
Across Europe, the July heatwave was “much more extreme than any other heatwave we’ve looked at over the last few years”, a scientist from the network tells Carbon Brief.
Heat goes on
Following a record-breaking early heatwave in June, Europe has now seen a second episode of unprecedented temperatures.
The extreme heat began across the continent on Sunday 21 July and reached its peak on Thursday 25 July – when the UK recorded its highest ever temperature of 38.7C at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden.
A 6.5-magnitude earthquake on Thursday interrupted Chilean President Sebastian Pinera as he was making a speech at a fruit exporting plant in Teno, a town in central Curico province, according to local media.
In a video footage of the event uploaded by leading national dailies, including El Mercurio Online, an organizer was announcing that there is an earthquake and calling on the participants to remain calm.
"I am calmer than you are," Pinera said from the stage, eliciting laughter and applause from the audience.
"The land also wanted to applaud us. This movement is a tribute to the men and women who work the land in our country," he added.
According to the national seismological center of the University of Chile, the quake struck at 2:28 p.m. local time (1828 GMT) with an epicenter located 43 kilometers northwest of Pichilemu, in Cardenal Caro province, and at a depth of 11 kilometers.
The quake was felt in the regions of Valparaiso, Metropolitana, O'Higgins and Maule.
No injuries or damage have been reported.
source：http://www.china.org.cn/world/2019-08/02/content_75058885.htm
