Europe’s June scorch would have been unthinkable 50 years ago, scientists say

A World Weather Attribution study links Europe’s record June heatwave to human-caused climate change, showing such temperatures would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago and would have been about 3.5°C cooler in June 1976; with roughly 1.4°C of global warming since pre-industrial times, heat extremes are now tens to hundreds of times more likely, and nearly half of the 850 European cities analyzed hit or were close to heat-stress records in June. The El Niño pattern did not drive the event, and researchers warn that rapid fossil-fuel reduction is crucial to avoid worse impacts.