---
title: Heatwaves across the globe are directly linked to the fossil fuel industry
date: 2022-07-19T23:38:19Z
modified: 2023-07-21T12:44:08Z
permalink: "https://350.org/heatwaves-directly-linked-to-fossil-fuels/"
type: post
status: publish
excerpt: The heat waves raging through Europe, North America, and Asia are what a climate crisis looks like – and it didn’t happen by accident. The record-breaking temperatures causing fires, extreme drought, and crop failures can be directly linked to the fossil fuel industry’s choice to continue with coal, oil and gas production.
wpid: 176460
categories:
  - Climate Impacts
  - KIITG
tags:
  - ads
featured_image: /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/climate-reanalyzer-map.png
featured_image_alt: heat map of the world on 19 july 2022
author: The 350.org Team
---

Unprecedented heat, out-of-control wildfires, deadly floods: these impacts of the climate crisis are already the daily reality for people across the world.

![](https://350.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/heatwave-tweets-700x394.jpg)

If you look only at the news headlines, you might be led to believe this global crisis simply happened to us out of nowhere. But it’s not that we’re unlucky, or that the climate just decided to warm up one day. Fossil fuels did this. People did this – and got rich and powerful while watching our world burn.

![heat map of the world on 19 July 2022](https://350.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/climate-reanalyzer-700x485.png)

Climate Reanalyzer, Climate Change Institute



 **[Climate science is clear](https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/climate-change/causes-of-climate-change)** – the real culprits of climate change are fossil fuels and those who continue to produce them. Humans cause climate change by releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses into the air. Fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal contain carbon dioxide that has been ‘locked away’ in the ground for thousands of years. When we take these out of the land and burn them, we release the stored carbon dioxide into the air.

The longer we allow coal, oil, and gas companies to dig and burn, the worse the impacts of the climate crisis will be. With every fraction of a degree of warming, we’ll see and suffer more extreme heat, droughts, floods, wildfires, and hurricanes.

The flip side? [**Every fraction of a degree of warming we can prevent means lives saved**](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2326163-every-heatwave-occurring-today-is-more-intense-due-to-climate-change/) and catastrophes averted.

Want to be a part of the difference? [Join 350 today. ](https://act.350.org/signup/signup/)