New Study Directly Connects Major Oil Companies’ Carbon Emissions to Heatwaves and Rising Deaths Worldwide
For the first time, researchers have directly linked the carbon emissions of major oil companies to deadly heatwaves across the globe—a finding experts are calling a “leap forward” in legal and political efforts to hold fossil fuel giants accountable for their role in the climate crisis.
The study revealed that emissions from each of the world’s 14 largest oil and gas companies were sufficient to trigger more than 50 heatwaves that would have been virtually impossible without human-driven global warming.
For instance, emissions from ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco alone made at least 51 extreme heat events 10,000 times more likely than in a pre-industrial climate.
Rising Heatwaves, Rising Deaths
Global warming is dramatically increasing the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, which are already responsible for an estimated 500,000 deaths annually.
The Pacific Northwest heatwave in 2021 was intensified by nearly 3°C due to climate change.
Between 2010 and 2019, 213 major heatwaves worldwide became, on average, 200 times more likely because of global warming.
The study also highlighted that the 180 “carbon majors”—the world’s largest fossil fuel producers—were collectively responsible for half of the increased intensity of heatwaves, with the rest largely attributed to deforestation.
Legal and Political Implications
“This ability to trace and quantify the share of responsibility of these major emitters is a valuable step forward in establishing legal liability,” said Professor Sonia Seneviratne of ETH Zurich, co-author of the study.
Echoing this, Davide Faranda, Research Director at CNRS, described the findings as “a decisive step forward”:
“It establishes a direct link between specific climate disasters and the companies whose emissions made them possible.
This bridge could become a cornerstone for legal and political actions aimed at holding polluters accountable.”
The study strengthens the case for using scientific evidence to support climate litigation and policy reforms, placing fossil fuel companies under growing scrutiny for their role in fueling the global climate emergency.
