Heatwaves set to become more common: Swedish expert

Stockholm, Jan 5 Heatwaves such as those that enveloped Europe in recent years are bound to become more frequent and more intense, and their impacts will be dramatic, a Swedish expert has said.

"It is worrying that we see more dramatic effects than what we believed only ten years ago," Mikael Karlsson, associate professor of environmental science and senior lecturer in climate change leadership at Uppsala University, told Swedish Television (SVT), commenting on the most recent heatwave that pushed temperatures above 19 degrees Celsius in Poland and the Czech Republic and close to 17 degrees Celsius in the Netherlands.

Tora Tomasdottir, an SVT meteorologist, said that it was "extremely unusual" for so many temperature records to be broken in such a short time, Xinhua news agency reported.

Karlsson told SVT that although the most recent heatwave cannot be definitely attributed to climate change, further temperature records will very likely be broken in the years to come.

"We will no doubt be affected by extreme weather more often," he said.

While the historic winter warm spell shattered records across Europe, North America battled freezing temperatures and heavy snow.

Stopping short of attributing this to global warming, Karlsson said that the cost of climate change will likely surpass previous estimates.

"Climate change is probably the most expensive (disaster) ever caused by humankind. The cost is on par with that of a world war," he said.

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