Study Warns Heatwaves Will Persist for a Millennium Even After Net Zero

Overview

• Published in Environmental Research: Climate, the modeling used the ACCESS-ESM1-5 Earth system model to test global net-zero dates between 2030 and 2060 over the next 1,000 years.
• Across all scenarios, heatwaves became hotter, longer and more frequent with later decarbonization, with no broadscale decline for at least a millennium after net zero.
• The authors call for faster mitigation, saying global net zero by about 2040 would help limit the severity of extreme heat.
• Countries near the equator and in the Southern Hemisphere face the greatest danger, with record-breaking events expected annually if net zero slips to 2050 or later.
• The findings sharpen policy debates at COP30 as India targets 2070 for net zero and a nationwide survey found 71% of Indians experienced severe heatwaves in the past year.