The most at-risk regions in the world for high-impact heatwaves

Heatwaves are becoming more frequent under climate change and can lead to thousands of excess deaths. Adaptation to extreme weather events often occurs in response to an event, with communities learning fast following unexpectedly impactful events. Using extreme value statistics, here we show where regional temperature records are statistically likely to be exceeded, and therefore communities might be more at-risk. In 31% of regions examined, the observed daily maximum temperature record is exceptional. Climate models suggest that similar behaviour can occur in any region. In some regions, such as Afghanistan and parts of Central America, this is a particular problem - not only have they the potential for far…

• SR
  Sight Research UK

  Awards: NE/S004661/1, NE/S005242/1
• NE
  Natural Environment Research Council

  Awards: NE/S004661/1, NE/S005242/1, NE/L002612, NE/L002612/1, NE/S005242/1