“These heat waves don’t happen in a vacuum.”

Record temperatures were the worst in western Canada and the United States. British Columbia set new temperature records in Canada three days in a row in June. The heat claimed hundreds of lives.

Copernicus associates heat with human-caused climate change.

These heat waves do not occur in a vacuum. They occur in an increasingly warmer global climate context and make them more likely, says researcher Julian Nicholas, according to a climate agency mailing.

Nicholas asserts that humankind’s emissions are making periods of extreme warmth more common, more intense, and longer lasting.

For Europe, June this year was the second warmest month since statistics began to be kept. Northern Siberia also observed extreme temperatures. Even in the Southern Hemisphere, the season is reported to have peaked in New Zealand, among other places.

According to the 2015 Paris Agreement, we will try to keep global temperature rise “well below 2 degrees” compared to pre-industrial times, with the goal of reaching a maximum of 1.5 degrees. However, human pollution has already raised the figure to 1.1 degrees, causing stronger storms, droughts and fires.

Copernicus also reported this week that widespread fires in the arid nature of North America and Siberia mean increased emissions.

“Forest fires are responsible for much more air pollution than industrial emissions, because they produce a mixture of particulates, carbon monoxide, and other pollutants,” the Climate Service wrote.