Particle.news
Download on the App Store
3 ARTICLES
·
2d ago

Nature Study Ties 180 Fossil and Cement Giants to Intensifying Global Heatwaves

A 213‑event analysis since 2000 shows human-driven warming vastly increasing the odds as well as the severity of extreme heat.

Une raffinerie de pétrole, à Houston (Texas), le 8 septembre 2025
Des militants de Greenpeace posent lors d'une manifestation contre les pollueurs devant le siège de TotalEnergies, à côté de Paris, en 2024.
La raffinerie Marathon Petroleum Wilmington à Los Angeles (Californie), le 29 août 2025

Overview

  • The study assesses 213 heatwaves worldwide from 2000 to 2023, finding that recent extremes have become both more likely and more intense due to human-caused warming.
  • Heatwaves were about 20 times more probable in the 2000s and about 200 times more probable in the 2010s compared with a world without anthropogenic warming.
  • For 55 of the 213 events, the probability increased by at least 10,000 times, implying such heatwaves would have been virtually impossible without climate change.
  • Emissions attributed across the full value chain of 180 major fossil fuel and cement companies account for roughly half of the rise in heatwave intensity since pre-industrial times, with the 14 largest firms contributing as much as the other 166 combined.
  • Authors say the methods could strengthen evidence used in climate lawsuits as cases expand against energy and cement firms, following a German court’s recognition of global corporate responsibility for climate damages.