Global prevalence of compound heatwaves from 1980 to 2022

Kun Zhang; Jin-Bao Li; Michael Kwok-Po Ng; Zheng-Fei Guo; Amos P.K. Tai; Shu-Wen Liu; Xiao-Rong Wang; Jie Zhang; Jin Wu

doi:10.1016/j.accre.2025.04.010

Global prevalence of compound heatwaves from 1980 to 2022

Kun Zhang, Jin-Bao Li, Michael Kwok-Po Ng^*, Zheng-Fei Guo, Amos P.K. Tai, Shu-Wen Liu, Xiao-Rong Wang, Jie Zhang, Jin Wu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Mathematics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

Abstract

Global warming has led to increasing occurrence of hot extremes, yet our understanding of the compound heatwaves (CHW) of both day and night—the most threatening and harmful type—remains limited. Here we use the air temperature from ERA5-Land datasets to analyze key characteristics of global CHW from 1980 to 2022. Our results demonstrate a pronounced increase in global CHW, with an annual cumulative intensity rising by 3.32 °C per decade (p 10 °C per decade), especially since 2005. Moreover, interannual variations of CHW are closely linked to major climate modes, displaying strong region-specific connections and varied lagged effect, particularly with ENSO and PDO in tropical regions. Altogether, these results reveal the unexpected prevalence of CHW in recent decades, emphasizing the urgent need to address its potential adverse impacts on human and ecosystem well-being.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	565-575
Number of pages	11
Journal	Advances in Climate Change Research
Volume	16
Issue number	3
Early online date	23 Apr 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accre.2025.04.010
Publication status	Published - Jun 2025

User-Defined Keywords

Climate mode
Compound heatwaves
Global pattern
Temporal dynamics

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.accre.2025.04.010Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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@article{187a11d041804590ac11b4fe94aec1c8,

title = "Global prevalence of compound heatwaves from 1980 to 2022",

abstract = "Global warming has led to increasing occurrence of hot extremes, yet our understanding of the compound heatwaves (CHW) of both day and night—the most threatening and harmful type—remains limited. Here we use the air temperature from ERA5-Land datasets to analyze key characteristics of global CHW from 1980 to 2022. Our results demonstrate a pronounced increase in global CHW, with an annual cumulative intensity rising by 3.32 °C per decade (p 10 °C per decade), especially since 2005. Moreover, interannual variations of CHW are closely linked to major climate modes, displaying strong region-specific connections and varied lagged effect, particularly with ENSO and PDO in tropical regions. Altogether, these results reveal the unexpected prevalence of CHW in recent decades, emphasizing the urgent need to address its potential adverse impacts on human and ecosystem well-being.",

keywords = "Climate mode, Compound heatwaves, Global pattern, Temporal dynamics",

author = "Kun Zhang and Jin-Bao Li and Ng, {Michael Kwok-Po} and Zheng-Fei Guo and Tai, {Amos P.K.} and Shu-Wen Liu and Xiao-Rong Wang and Jie Zhang and Jin Wu",

note = "The work was primarily supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31922090), National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFA0605601), Hong Kong Research Grant Council General Research Fund (17316622 and 17305321). Jin Wu was also supported by the HKU Seed Funding for Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Scheme, the Hung Ying Physical Science Research Fund (2021e22), and the Innovation and Technology Fund (funding support to State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Authors.",

year = "2025",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1016/j.accre.2025.04.010",

language = "English",

volume = "16",

pages = "565--575",

journal = "Advances in Climate Change Research",

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T1 - Global prevalence of compound heatwaves from 1980 to 2022

AU - Zhang, Kun

AU - Li, Jin-Bao

AU - Ng, Michael Kwok-Po

AU - Guo, Zheng-Fei

AU - Tai, Amos P.K.

AU - Liu, Shu-Wen

AU - Wang, Xiao-Rong

AU - Zhang, Jie

AU - Wu, Jin

N1 - The work was primarily supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31922090), National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFA0605601), Hong Kong Research Grant Council General Research Fund (17316622 and 17305321). Jin Wu was also supported by the HKU Seed Funding for Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Scheme, the Hung Ying Physical Science Research Fund (2021e22), and the Innovation and Technology Fund (funding support to State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology). Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors.

PY - 2025/6

Y1 - 2025/6

N2 - Global warming has led to increasing occurrence of hot extremes, yet our understanding of the compound heatwaves (CHW) of both day and night—the most threatening and harmful type—remains limited. Here we use the air temperature from ERA5-Land datasets to analyze key characteristics of global CHW from 1980 to 2022. Our results demonstrate a pronounced increase in global CHW, with an annual cumulative intensity rising by 3.32 °C per decade (p 10 °C per decade), especially since 2005. Moreover, interannual variations of CHW are closely linked to major climate modes, displaying strong region-specific connections and varied lagged effect, particularly with ENSO and PDO in tropical regions. Altogether, these results reveal the unexpected prevalence of CHW in recent decades, emphasizing the urgent need to address its potential adverse impacts on human and ecosystem well-being.

AB - Global warming has led to increasing occurrence of hot extremes, yet our understanding of the compound heatwaves (CHW) of both day and night—the most threatening and harmful type—remains limited. Here we use the air temperature from ERA5-Land datasets to analyze key characteristics of global CHW from 1980 to 2022. Our results demonstrate a pronounced increase in global CHW, with an annual cumulative intensity rising by 3.32 °C per decade (p 10 °C per decade), especially since 2005. Moreover, interannual variations of CHW are closely linked to major climate modes, displaying strong region-specific connections and varied lagged effect, particularly with ENSO and PDO in tropical regions. Altogether, these results reveal the unexpected prevalence of CHW in recent decades, emphasizing the urgent need to address its potential adverse impacts on human and ecosystem well-being.

KW - Climate mode

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KW - Temporal dynamics

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DO - 10.1016/j.accre.2025.04.010

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SN - 1674-9278

VL - 16

SP - 565

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JO - Advances in Climate Change Research

JF - Advances in Climate Change Research

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ER -

Global prevalence of compound heatwaves from 1980 to 2022

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UN SDGs

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