Heatwaves are getting more severe with climate change – that much science has known for some time. But a new study led by the University of Graz now shows that the increase in intensity of particularly strong heatwaves across large regions will be far greater than previously anticipated. "These findings have dramatic implications for the planning of adaptation measures. Current climate risk assessments may have substantially underestimated this development," says Douglas Maraun, lead author of the study, which has just been published in the renowned scientific journal Nature Communications.

It is well established that the intensification of heatwaves exceeds the increase in mean temperatures. "If, for example, the global climate warms by two degrees, a typical heatwave will become around 2.6 degrees hotter," explains Douglas Maraun, research group leader at the Wegener Center at the University of Graz. However, the most extreme and devastating heatwaves – featuring temperatures sometimes never previously recorded, as seen in Canada in 2021, India in 2022, and the Mediterranean in 2023 – are very rare events. Until now, it had been assumed that such extreme heatwaves respond to climate change in a similar way to more moderate events…

Find out more at: uni-graz.at