BRASILIA (dpa-AFX) - Human-induced climate change altered the intensity of the extreme heat experienced in the past weeks in the US south-west, Mexico and Central America by around 35 times more likely, scientists say.
Scientists from Mexico, Panama, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Sweden collaborated to analyse 5-day maximum temperatures in May and June over a large region encompassing the US southwest, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador, where impacts associated with extreme temperature records were reported.
Observations show that 5-day maximum temperatures such as recorded in May-June this year are expected to occur about every 15 years in a climate that has been warmed by 1.2C.
These trends will continue with future warming, and events like the one observed in 2024 will be very common in a world 2C degrees hotter, the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group warns in its report published Thursday.
Scientists recommend that extreme heat warning systems and action plans can help fill important gaps in preparedness across Central America. Heat safety protection laws must be enacted to protect outdoor workers across all countries.
The extreme heat in the north and central America has resulted in severe impacts, including more than 125 heat-related deaths in Mexico since March, thousands of cases of heat stroke, and power outages. 'We likely do not know the full picture of heat-related deaths, since they are usually only confirmed and reported months after the event, if at all,' trhe scientists say.
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