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Study: Climate Change Behind Europe's Record Heatwave

Study: Climate Change Behind Europe's Record Heatwave

Is Europe's deadly heatwave proof of climate change or just a natural weather pattern blown out of proportion?
Study: Climate Change Behind Europe's Record Heatwave
Above: A map of Europe shows a heatwave on the continent on June 24. Image credit: Sabrina Blanchard and Sylvie Husson/AFP Getty Images

The Spin


Climate change made Europe's record-breaking heatwave possible — without it, these temperatures would've been virtually impossible just 50 years ago. Daytime highs topped 104°F (40°C) across France, Italy and Spain, and 45% of 850 analyzed cities broke heat stress records. Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average, and burning fossil fuels is driving every bit of it.

Europe's heatwave is driven by an omega block in the jet stream pushing hot Saharan air northward — a completely natural atmospheric process unrelated to greenhouse gas emissions. Reduced cloud cover from EU pollution regulations likely plays a bigger role than the global mean temperature. Blaming climate change for routine weather patterns is not science but sensationalism.


Metaculus Prediction

There's a 98% chance that there will be at least 2˚C of global warming by 2100, according to the Metaculus prediction community.


The Controversies



Go Deeper

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 7.4.1

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 7.4.1