The World Weather Attribution group has published a study showing that climate change has had a significant role in the intense heat waves gripping the globe this month, making the heat wave in China 50 times more likely and the European heat wave 4.5 degrees hotter. Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London, said “The role of climate change is absolutely overwhelming” in producing all three extremes. This research is an important step in understanding the effects of climate change and highlights the need to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases.