Researchers report heat waves in Europe last two times longer and number of extremely hot days triples over last 100 years
Pastor Dale Morgan
Researchers report heat waves in Europe last two times longer and number
of extremely hot days triples over last 100 years*
08/04/2007 00:25 Source: AP ©
According to a study released Friday the length of European heat periods
has doubled and the number of extremely hot days has almost tripled over
the last one hundred years, contributing to other evidence that such hot
summers are a sign of global climate change.
Heat waves, such as the one in the summer of 2003 blamed for the deaths
of tens of thousands of people in Europe and millions of euros in
agricultural losses, are expected to become more common still as the
climate warms, said Paul Della-Marta, the head of a research team at the
University of Bern in Switzerland.
"These results add more evidence to the belief among climate scientists
that western Europe will experience some of the highest environmental
and social impacts of climate change and continue to experience
devastating hot summers like the summer of 2003 more frequently in the
future," Della-Marta said in a statement.
The results appear in the Aug. 3 edition of the Journal of Geophysical
Research-Atmospheres, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.
Researchers compiled evidence across Europe and found that heat waves
now last an average of three days, with some lasting up to 13 days. That
compares to an average of about 1.5 days in 1880, they said.
Past temperature records were probably overestimated, because
thermometers were not accurate, researchers said.
The study found that even small temperature changes will drastically
increase the length of heat waves.
The European Union warned in June that the continent has already warmed
by 1 degree Celsius over the past century, faster than the global
average, and that Europe must get ready for even small temperature
changes that will have "very big effects" in the future.