Climate change ‘worsened all 10 deadliest weather events in past two decades’

Climate change contributed to all ten of the world’s deadliest extreme weather events in the past two decades, scientists have concluded.
Among them was the 2022 heatwave which gripped much of Europe, bringing record 40C temperatures to parts of the UK.
The assessment comes from the World Weather Attribution group, which analyses the impact of climate change on extreme weather events in their immediate aftermath.
It says the ten deadliest global events, which include three tropical cyclones, four heatwaves, a drought and two floods, between them resulted in the deaths of least 576,042 people.
It says “the fingerprints of climate change” are evident in all these events, making them more intense as well as more likely to have happened in the first place.
They warned the death toll is a “major underestimate”, as there may have been millions more heat-related deaths not reported in official statistics.
Scientists said the findings underscore “how dangerous extreme weather events have already become” with just 1.3C of global warming above pre-industrial levels.
They highlight the urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions which are driving rising temperatures and more extreme weather.
The world is currently on track for 3C of warming by the end of the century – a level recently described by UN chief Antonio Guterres as “catastrophic”.
What were the 10 deadliest weather events of the last 20 years?
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Dr Friederike Otto, co-founder and lead of World Weather Attribution at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, said: “Climate change isn’t a distant threat.
“This study should be an eye-opener for political leaders hanging on to fossil fuels that heat the planet and destroy lives.
“If we keep burning oil, gas and coal, the suffering will continue.”
The researchers said many of the deaths caused by extreme weather were avoidable.
They said countries should ramp up efforts to be prepared, including implementing early warning systems and boosting resilience in cities with measures such as wetlands, green roofs, urban forests and emergency shelters, and make sure infrastructure such as dams are climate-proofed so they will not fail.
But there are limits to how much communities can adapt to some of the most extreme events the world is seeing and these will become more frequent as long as fossil fuel use continues to push up global temperatures, they said.
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