Friederike Otto analyzes how human-caused climate change shapes extreme events. In the news after a study links fire weather to warming and comments on policy implications.
Scientists have found that human-caused warming has made the hot, dry and windy weather that fuelled this summer’s wildfires far more likely: roughly 20 times more likely in central Spain and about twice as likely in parts of France. The results accompany mass evacuations, record burn areas and heavy smoke that has crossed international borders.