The scorching weather at the Paris Olympic Games was a hot topic last week, and scientists revealed the concerning cause: the burning of dirty energy sources such as gas and coal.
What's happening?
A heat dome over Western Europe and North Africa marred one of the world's largest sporting events, pushing July 30 temperatures to 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit) in the capital and as high as 41 Celsius (105 Fahrenheit) elsewhere in the country, the Associated Press reported.
In a study, scientists showed that only human-caused rising temperatures made the overheating event possible, producing temperatures 2.5-3.3 Celsius hotter than they would've been otherwise, according to the Guardian. The July heat was the result of "a large-scale high-pressure ridge," or heat dome. Such events are now expected every 10 years, and "continued emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide will make them even more frequent," the outlet wrote in summary.
"Climate change crashed the Olympics on Tuesday," Friederike Otto of World Weather Attribution, which conducted the "rapid analysis," told the Guardian. "The world watched athletes swelter in 35 C heat. If the atmosphere wasn't overloaded with emissions from burning fossil fuels, Paris would have been about 3 C cooler and much safer for sport."
Athletes and spectators alike cooled off as they could, using misting stations, ice water, and shade. Some countries' athletic federations, including the United States', brought their own air conditioners to the Games; organizers had chosen to cool rooms in the athletes village with underfloor pipes to help them put on a greener Olympics.
Why is this heat wave important?
Otto noted that people in the region were not as fortunate as Parisians and the city's tourists. Almost all of Europe and Africa is not air-conditioned. Of the 1.6 billion AC units around the world, just 100 million are in the European Union, the AP reported.
That contributed to 21 deaths that same week in Morocco, where it reached 118 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as growing wildfires and water shortages in Europe. Extreme heat on the continent caused 61,000 early deaths two summers ago, the Guardian noted.
Because rising global temperatures make heat waves, heavy rain, and other weather events more frequent and severe, we must drastically cut our consumption of gas, coal, and oil to dial back such deadly episodes. Heat waves in particular happen more often, last longer, and are more intense because of this unequivocally human-driven warming.
What's being done about rising temperatures?
Governments and corporations must lead the way to a safer future. You can support such efforts by using your voice as well as through small steps that add up to big changes — and save money — by making changes such as opting to use solar energy, maintaining your yard naturally, and using less plastic.
"As long as humans burn oil, gas, and coal, heat waves will get hotter and more people will die premature deaths," Otto told the Guardian. "The good news is that we don't need some magic solution to stop things from getting worse. We know exactly what we need to do and have the technology and knowledge needed to do it: Replace fossil fuels with renewable energy and stop deforestation. The faster we do this, the better."
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