Global warming linked to major oil and gas companies made significant 21st century heatwaves more intense
By
New research, published in Nature, has made apparent the devastating impact that major oil and gas companies can wreak upon our planet. Global warming linked to these companies has made all ‘major’ 21st century heatwaves more intense and frequent.
Researchers found one-quarter of 213 heatwaves would have been ‘virtually impossible’ without the existence of human-caused global warming.
Enjoying this article? Check out our related reads:
As the planet warms, the study has also shown climate change is making heatwaves both more frequent and intense.
To come to their conclusions, researchers estimated the emissions originating from the operations and of more than 100 ‘carbon majors’, such as BP, Shell, Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil. This estimate includes direct emissions from the companies, as well as emissions released when oil and gas produced is used by others.
Combined, the fossil fuels produced by these companies account for 60 per cent of all human-caused CO2 emissions from 1850 to 2023.
The study also went into specific details, with data for each one of the carbon majors and their particular contribution to heatwaves. For example, the smallest carbon major – a Russian coal company – was found to make 16 heatwaves more than 10,000 times likely.
‘I was surprised that even the smallest carbon majors were actually very substantially contributing to the probability of the heat waves,;’ said lead author Dr Yann Quilcaille.
As well as this, researchers also found heatwaves recorded between 2000 and 2023 were made, on average, 1.7C hotter due to climate change. Half of this increase is due to emissions from carbon major companies.
Human-caused climate change also made 55 heatwaves at least 10,000 times more likely. According to authors, this is ‘equivalent to saying that they would have been virtually impossible’ without the influence of human activity.
Eventually, this research could be used to calculate the financial damage and liability of specific companies.
The importance of attribution
Understanding how exactly major corporations are involved in the climate is pivotal in court cases, according to Dr Yann Quilcalle. Such studies as this – known as attribution studies – play an important role in providing evidence helping judges to determine liability.
As research associate in climate science and the law at University of Oxford, Dr Rupert Stuart-Smith explains, this new paper is a ‘high-quality analysis and a meaningful step forward for the field of climate change attribution.’
‘With more and more lawsuits aiming to hold high-emitting companies responsible for their contributions to climate change impacts or compel state and corporate actors to reduce their emissions and prevent rising climate harms, work like this provides the basis for well-informed judicial decision-making,’ Stuart-Smith continued.
