May’s scorching temperatures arrived ahead of a predicted ‘super El Niño’, and triggered a rapid rise in air pollution.
In the past week, French media has reported on how last month’s unprecedented heatwave triggered a spike in ozone pollution. Temperatures across the county peaked at 37.1C on Monday 24th May, setting a new record for May, with similar all-time highs set in the UK.
Alongside the public health risk of soaring unseasonable temperatures, France’s Prev’air platform issued its earliest ever information report about air quality and specifically ozone pollution. This only happens when at least two regions are experiencing spikes in this harmful pollutant for consecutive days.
Tropospheric ozone is considered both a greenhouse gas and air pollutant and forms as a result of environmental conditions — including the presence of various precursor gases and high temperatures. the compound forms at ground level and is particularly harmful to organisms including humans and agricultural crops. An estimated 500,000 premature deaths are attributed to the phenomena.
The European heatwave has made headlines not only due to its ferocity but the time of year, appearing much earlier than normal. Indicative of the continent’s unfortunate title as the fastest-heating on the planet, the extreme weather has come amid warnings of a ‘super El Niño’ event which could begin this month.
The naturally-occurring weather system brings about warmer than average sea and surface temperatures in central and eastern tropical Pacific regions. However, its impact is felt across the world, and can last for up to nine months. It occurs every two-to-nine years. Meteorologists have warned 2026’s iteration could be the most powerful on record, raising major concerns about a sustained period of planet-wide extreme heat.
Adding to the negative news, this week the World Meteorological Organization has confirmed record-breaking heat could be the norm for the next five years. There is a 91% probability of global annual average temperatures breaking the 1.5C above pre-industrial levels before 2031. This has only happened once before, in 2024. In addition to the toll on human and environmental health, the year could also be a benchmark in terms of visible economic strains directly resulting from climate conditions.
‘Extreme weather events are increasingly linked and multi-phenomenon. More record heat doesn’t just stop there, but it could go on to trigger or exacerbate droughts, wildfires or disease spread,’ Danya Liu, Climate Adaptation Specialist at BloombergNEF, told Environment Journal. ‘Like most climactic shifts, intensifying heat creates tailwinds for some actors — for example market growth for air and headwinds for others, such as declining machinery efficiency.
It will be important to map these intersecting impacts in order to identify the best adaptive path forward,’ Liu continued. ‘We do see a trend of more heat-related policies that protect human health and productivity. For example Japan introduced protections for workers and we expect similar policies in other markets as they start to address climate adaptation.’
Image: fabian jones / Unsplash
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