Recent heatwaves as a prelude to climate extremes in the western Mediterranean region

The 2022 and 2023 western Mediterranean summer temperatures exceeded millennial natural variability, reaching unprecedented anomalies of +3.6 °C and +2.9 °C respectively. We show that anthropogenic climate change may turn extreme heatwaves from a rarity of 1 in 10,000 years into events occurring eve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:NPJ climate and atmospheric science 2024-09, Vol.7 (1), p.218-7, Article 218
Main Authors: Tejedor, Ernesto, Benito, Gerardo, Serrano-Notivoli, Roberto, González-Rouco, Fidel, Esper, Jan, Büntgen, Ulf
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
704/106/413
704/106/694
Anthropogenic factors
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Atmospheric Sciences
Brief Communication
Climate change
Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts
Climatology
Cooling
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Heat
Heat waves
Standard deviation
Summer
Temperature
Trends
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Summary:The 2022 and 2023 western Mediterranean summer temperatures exceeded millennial natural variability, reaching unprecedented anomalies of +3.6 °C and +2.9 °C respectively. We show that anthropogenic climate change may turn extreme heatwaves from a rarity of 1 in 10,000 years into events occurring every 4–75 years, depending on future scenarios. This shift underscores the urgency of implementing adaptive strategies as extreme climate events manifest sooner and more intensely than expected.
ISSN:2397-3722
2397-3722
DOI:10.1038/s41612-024-00771-6