
Swiss researchers warned that that figure will only increase in the coming decades.
Researchers in Switzerland have published a new study that says carbon dioxide emissions are responsible for three out of every four extremely hot days we experience on the Earth — and that figure will increase dramatically once we reach the middle of this century.
The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, states that climate change will cause the number of extra-hot days caused by mankind to jump from 75 percent today to 95 percent.
The findings aren’t as extreme with rainfall, finding that just 18 percent of extreme rain is caused by mankind’s activities, however that will increase as well as worldwide temperatures rise by more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit, moving up to 39 percent.
Researchers examined the hottest of the hot days on record and used computer simulations on 25 models to simulate how many we should get without greenhouse gases, and found it would be about once in three years, whereas it would be four days in three years with greenhouse gases taken into account. What’s more, by midcentury if things keep going the way they are, that figure jumps to 26 extremely hot days over the same time period.
Africa and South America are most heavily impacted by global warming, with 89 and 88 percent of their hot days caused by man, whereas Europe and North America were on the lower end at 63 and 67 percent, respectively.
As the world debates the effects of climate change and what action should be taken, the study may help bring awareness to the issue and show ordinary people what kind of practical effects they can expect from global warming rather than see it as a nebulous, far-off issue that has little real effect on their lives.
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