Climate change makes heat waves worse. A new study shows how the specified companies feed the problem

The increasing role of carbon emissions in causing heat waves, floods, droughts and the other harsh weather has become more clear, thanks to The growing field Climate support studies.

This research shows how likely a disaster in the weather – and the severity – is due to climate change.

New study By the researchers in Europe and the United States and published in Nature’s magazine this analysis more, by linking More Disaster type – heat waves – directly to the main fossil fuel companies and their products.

the study She looked at the main heat waves that occurred between 2000 and 2023 and the role of “carbon specialties”. These include state -owned companies (such as Gazprom in Russia or Aramco Saudi Arabia), investor -owned private companies (Shell, BP, Exxonmobil or even Canadian companies such as Suncor and Cenovus) and national patrols that produce fossil fuels such as coal (India, former Soviet Union).

The study was based on the previous research that shows in detail carbon emissions for life for these carbon specialties, and other studies showing how carbon emissions make thermology waves worse. Then they connected these two options to estimate how the carbon specialization emissions affected the severity and possibility of a specific heat.

The study found that climate change made the intensity of medium thermal waves in the world between 2010 and 2019 about 1.68 degrees Celsius more hot, and 0.47 degrees Celsius due to only 14 of the largest carbon specialties.

The study enters into granular details, with data for each of the 180 major carbon specialization and its specified contribution to both the 213 heat waves that were studied. Even the details show the impact of smaller companies – for example, the smallest carbon specialization through emissions, a Russian coal company, has made 16 heat waves more than 10,000 times – which means that heat waves were actually impossible without this carbon emissions.

“I was surprised that even the smallest carbon specialties were in fact contributing greatly to the possibility of heat waves,” said Yan Cellkail, the climate scientist at Eth Zurik, who led the study.

Experts say this research is new limits in appointing moral and legal responsibility for climate change for fossil fuel companies, as experts say, with great repercussions on the filing of climate and preachers around the world.

The study does not determine the damage caused by each company – this depends on more factors than the intensity of the heat wave, such as an emergency preparation or the use of air conditioners. But experts say it can still be used to calculate cash damage and the responsibility of specific companies.

This comes at a time when companies and countries restore their climate policies in the wake of an American administration that reflects climate policies and enhancing fossil fuels. Canada has turned in recent months from many major climate policies, such as Consumer carbon tax And the plan Electric vehicle sales mandate.

Prime Minister Mark Carney did not announce after what will replace these policies to help Canada achieve its goals, but he paid more Resource development As a way to face the difficult economic and commercial situation.

What are the legal consequences of fossil fuel companies?

In July, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations Supreme Court, issued an advisory opinion that countries with climate disaster can seek compensation from countries from which the largest carbon emanates and contributes to this problem. The court ruling was considered as a precedent that people in local courts around the world could take advantage of legal cases to stimulate climate action.

Jessica Wintz, an older colleague at the Sabine Climate Change Center at the University of Colombia, says that this recent research depends on the opinion of the International Court of Justice, and helps people who want to sue companies – especially by creating their position in the case.

She said: “At first, when the plaintiff needs to show that they have to stand in a state, they have to claim that they suffer from an injury that can be tracked in the defendant’s behavior.” She says that the new study will help make this link, although it admits that there is still a long way until the courts actually find companies financially responsible.

“The methodologies that support these types of results can also be used in more innate ways to consider the contributions of carbon specialties, but it is assumed that you can use a similar approach to start looking at the government,” Witz said.

In Canada, two prominent cases of young people are making their way through the regime. They both claim that the government’s failure to change climate violates the rights of Canadians. A A case against the government of Ontario Continuing, while a A case against the federal government It can go to a trial.

Naomi Orlesx, Professor of History of Harvard University, is one of the world’s prominent researchers in the wrong climate information. She says the study may be a great assistance for people affected by climate change – who may have few resources – to request recession.

She said: “Let’s say that you are a farmer and have died in the Hit dome (2021 North America). You, as an individual farmer, do not have the ability to prove that the heat wave was caused by climate change.”

“But now you don’t have that because in reality, scientists have done this work.”

Oreskees described the results of the study as “strong and convincing” in showing the extent of carbon specialties emissions in the heat problem.

“These companies produce these products (fossil fuels) … Previous research Including and other experts who offer major oil companies I knew the effects of carbon emissions The risks of global warming before decades before countries begin to age climate policies.

She said: “Some companies have played a kind of pioneering role in producing these products that led to this damage … I will not say that they bear all responsibility, but they definitely have the lion’s share of responsibility, and this paper is a kind of quantitative evaluation of the extent of this lion’s share already.”

CBC communicated with many carbon specialties mentioned in the study, but they either refused to comment or did not respond by the time of publication.