 Temperatures of 40C had never been recorded in the UK until July 19 last year, but they could be appearing as frequently as every three years by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are not curtailed, the Met Office has warned. Nearly 3,500 people are thought to have died because of 2022's summer heat, a recent study led by Barcelona's Institute for Global Health estimates, and those dry and windy conditions gave rise to some of the most destructive grassfires ever seen in England. Dozens of homes burnt down across the capital with the London Fire Brigade experiencing more calls than on any other day since the Second World War and 11 of the 46 fire services across the UK declared major incidents. As human beings continue to emit greenhouse gas emissions through energy use, agriculture, waste and industry, the chances of more extreme heat events like last July are growing higher. Under what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calls a high-emissions scenario, there could be almost a one-in-three chance of 40C in any given year by the end of the century. This scenario would see the global average temperature rise to around 4.3C above pre-industrial levels by 2100, though many scientists now believe that current policies are moving the Earth more towards a medium-emissions scenario, where the 2100 temperature would sit around 2.4C. 'The likelihood of exceeding 40C somewhere in the UK in a given year is increasing due to human-induced climate change,' said Oli Claydon of the Met Office. 'The chance of reaching the 40C threshold in the UK is now around 1% chance per year in the present climate. 'This could increase to around 6.7% chance per year by 2100 under a medium-emissions scenario and 28.6% chance per year by 2100 under the high-emissions scenario.' A street in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, scorched by out of control wildfires last summer (Picture: Christopher Fur){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Temperatures of 40C had never been recorded in the UK until July 19 last year, but they could be appearing as frequently as every three years by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are not curtailed, the Met Office has warned.
Nearly 3,500 people are thought to have died because of 2022’s summer heat, a recent study led by Barcelona’s Institute for Global Health estimates, and those dry and windy conditions gave rise to some of the most destructive grassfires ever seen in England.
Dozens of homes burnt down across the capital with the London Fire Brigade experiencing more calls than on any other day since the Second World War and 11 of the 46 fire services across the UK declared major incidents.
As human beings continue to emit greenhouse gas emissions through energy use, agriculture, waste and industry, the chances of more extreme heat events like last July are growing higher.