The recent deadly heatwave across the Asian continent was made worse by climate change New WWA study

ITC's Spatial Engineering graduate, Carolina Pereira Marghidan, now a PhD researcher at KNMI/UT and consultant at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, led the V&E section for this study.

Large regions of Asia experienced temperatures well above 40°C for many days. In their attribution studies, Scientists from Lebanon, Sweden, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the United States, and the United Kingdom looked at the influence of climate change on a specific extreme weather event - in this case, the extreme heat.

So, was this climate change? The scientists' findings show climate change made this heatwave much more likely and hotter.

Over West Asia, the scientists found that the event was about five times more likely due to climate change and about 1.7°C hotter. In the Philippines, these temperatures would have been impossible without climate change, which made the heat about 1.2°C hotter.

Next to the heat itself, factors such as displacement, rapid urbanisation, and pressure on water and electricity systems greatly influence people’s ability to respond to and deal with heat risks. Some people are affected disproportionately, and this study highlights the urgent need for heat planning and preparedness, focusing on the most vulnerable.