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Heatwave

Roland Pease asks why the Northern Hemisphere had unusually high temperatures in 2018.

The Northern Hemisphere sweltered in unusually high temperatures in the summer of 2018. It’s been hot from the Arctic to Africa. This led to increased deaths, notably in Canada, and more wildfires, even in Lancashire and in Sweden. Can we say that this heatwave – and the extreme drought in Australia - is a result of climate change? Or is just part of the variable weather patterns we have on our planet?

Roland Pease gets answers to these questions from the world’s leading climate and weather scientists. He picks apart the influences of the jet stream, the El Nina and the Atlantic decadal oscillation from that of global warming.

Image: Sacramento River and valley lit by the Delta Fire in California, 2018 (Credit: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images)