Wrong, The Guardian, Oil Company Operations Aren’t Making Heatwaves Worse
7 hours ago Anthony Watts
In The Guardian’s article, “Carbon emissions from oil giants directly linked to dozens of deadly heatwaves for first time,” Damian Carrington reports on a study claiming that the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from just 14 major fossil fuel companies were enough to cause more than 50 heatwaves that “would otherwise have been virtually impossible.” This is false. heatwaves were far worse in the past than today and it is impossible to link any particular heatwave to emissions from any company or group of companies, since data show no causal connection between emissions and changes in heat waves, at all.
The piece frames the research they reference as a legal turning point, arguing that oil producers could now face liability for specific extreme weather events. The article quotes researchers as stating that “the emissions from any one of the 14 biggest companies were by themselves enough to cause more than 50 heatwaves that would otherwise have been virtually impossible.” It goes further, citing campaigners who assert: “We can now point to specific heatwaves and say, ‘Saudi Aramco did this. ExxonMobil did this.’”
The claim that “global heating is making heatwaves more frequent and more intense across the globe” ignores historical records, runs contrary to peer-reviewed evidence, and lacks any evidence of a causal connection in data.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/09/15/wrong-the-guardian-oil-company-operations-arent-making-heatwaves-worse/
