Climate crisis made summer drought 20 times more likely, scientists find

Cracked soil at Alto Rabagao dam in northern Portugal. The dry conditions caused water shortages and wildfires across North America, Europe and Asia. Photograph: Jose Coelho/EPA

The climate crisis made the record drought across the northern hemisphere this summer at least 20 times more likely, scientists have calculated. Without human-caused global heating, the event would have been expected only once every four centuries.

The drought hit crop production and power supplies, exacerbating the food and energy crises already sparked by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Droughts will become even more severe and more frequent unless the burning of fossil fuels is phased out, the researchers warned.