Heatwaves have become longer in most of the world since 1950s – study

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/03/heatwaves-longer-since-1950s-study-frequency


Adam Morton
Published on Fri 3 Jul 2020 06.26 EDT


Heatwaves have increased in both length and frequency in nearly every part of the world since the 1950s, according to what is described as the first study to look at the issue at a regional level.

The study found the escalation in heatwaves varied around the planet, with the Amazon, north-eastern Brazil, west Asia (including parts of the subcontinent and central Asia) and the Mediterranean all experiencing more rapid change than, for example, southern Australia and north Asia. The only inhabited region where there was not a trend was in the central United States.

Published in the journal Nature Communications, the study found a clear increasing trend in the total number of heatwave days within and across regions, and that heatwaves were getting longer across the past 70 years.

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Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and the study’s lead author, said not only had there been more and longer heatwaves worldwide over the past 70 years, but the trend had accelerated markedly.

She said it was consistent with what climate scientists had long forecast – that a rise in heatwaves would be a clear sign of global heating – and the results should be a “clarion call” to policymakers that urgent action was needed to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

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