With colleagues at the University of Reading, we performed a simple analysis to assess what factors played a role in this record heat, specifically the roles of greenhouse gas emissions associated with global warming, the natural climate oscillation known as El Niño, as well as solar activity and volcanic aerosols.
South east Brazil experienced profound water shortages in 2014–15. Anthropogenic climate change was not found to be a major influence on the hazard, whereas increasing population and water consumption increased vulnerability.
The worst drought in decades gripped north and central Ethiopia in 2015, affecting nearly 10 million people. The resulting food scarcity meant more than eight million people in the parched country needed emergency food aid, according to the United Nations.
A team of international scientists says that it is virtually certain that the heatwave that stretched across much of Europe in early July was more likely to happen now than in the past due to climate change.
2014 looks increasingly likely to be the warmest year ever recorded in Europe, according to a new analysis of European temperature records dating back to the 1500s. What role did global warming play?