FILE - Tourists visit the ancient Acropolis hill during a heat wave in Athens, Greece, on July 21, 2023. Climate change is making heat waves crawl slower across the globe and last longer with higher temperatures over larger areas, a new study finds. FILE - A woman uses a shirt to shield from the sun as she walks at an outdoor shopping mall on a sweltering day in Beijing, July 6, 2023.
Eurasia was especially hit harder with longer lasting heat waves, the study said. Heat waves slowed down most in Africa, while North America and Australia saw the biggest increases in overall magnitude, which measures temperature and area, according to the study.
The team conducted computer simulations showing this change was due to heat-trapping emissions that come from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. The study found climate change’s fingerprint by simulating a world without greenhouse gas emissions and concluding it could not produce the worsening heat waves observed in the last 45 years.