The scorching heat waves plaguing the U.K. and Europe this summer are primarily driven by a recent reduction in air pollution, according to a new study conducted by the Met Office — the U.K.’s climate change and national weather service — in conjunction with Spanish researchers.
Europe has warmed at twice the rate of the rest of the world since the 1980s, resulting in deadly heat waves that environmental activists and politicians have attributed to carbon emissions. But according to the study, the opposite is true: Much of the increase in temperature can be attributed to Europe’s recent success in reducing the amount of airborne particulate matter, since such pollution acts as a sunshade.
Europe and the U.K. have seen a decrease in aerosol emissions over the past few decades, dating back to the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, led by then–U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The directive was created to protect the earth’s ozone layer, which in part meant reducing the amount of aerosols and particulates circulating in the atmosphere.
“From 1980, Europe warmed around 1C more than the average of extratropical areas of the Northern Hemisphere, and around 1.5C more than the global average. . . . Most of this excess warming over Europe can be linked to the reduction of particle emissions,” Pedro Roldán‐Gómez, an associate researcher at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, told The Telegraph.
The reduction in air pollution has caused an increase in temperatures that is particularly pronounced at the poles. When the temperature difference between the poles and the equator shrinks, the jet stream grows stagnant, which results in weather systems, like the recent hot spells in Europe, persisting for longer periods.
The heat waves across Europe and the U.K. have greatly affected residents and would-be tourists alike, with many canceling travel in light of the unbearable temperatures. While estimates are still preliminary, the heat wave is believed to have caused at least 10,000 additional deaths on the continent this summer.
European politicians have been quick to blame the temperature spike on carbon emissions. Paris Deputy Mayor Audrey Pulvar went so far as to directly blame the U.S. in a June social media post.
“Dear American journalists and social media ‘influencers’: for days, some of you have been criticizing and making fun of Paris because the city does not have A/C in every room. OMG, this is so rich!” she wrote on Instagram.
“As the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, you bear a significant amount of responsibility for global warming and the consequences we, in France, are experiencing. Your cities ‘90% air-conditioned’ are not unrelated to this. In Paris, we take responsibility.”