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Indian army says new exchange of gunfire with Pakistan
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Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre takes own life in Australia: family
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Hundreds of buildings damaged, dozens injured in 6.3 Ecuador quake
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India and Pakistan's Kashmir fallout hits economy too
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Francis's funeral to be grand farewell to 'pope of the poor'
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Pogacar faces defiant Evenepoel at Liege-Bastogne-Liege
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Chelsea eye great escape against Barcelona in Women's Champions League
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Iran, US to hold new round of high-level nuclear talks
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'Energy and effort' pay off for Reds as Blues' woes continue
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Albatross and closing birdie lift China's Liu to LPGA Chevron lead
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On the horizon? Wave of momentum for high seas treaty
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Developing countries should fast-track US trade deals: World Bank president
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Grizzlies' Morant 'doubtful' for must-win game 4 v Thunder
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Trump in Rome for pope funeral in first foreign trip of new term
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Trump says Russia-Ukraine deal 'very close' after new Kremlin talks
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US rookies lead PGA pairs event with McIlroy and Lowry in hunt
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Trump tariff promises get a reality check
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Warriors coach Kerr 'relatively optimistic' injured Butler will play game 3
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Postecoglou hopes 'Stonecutter's Credo' can inspire Spurs
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PSG lose unbeaten Ligue 1 record ahead of Arsenal showdown
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Venezuela accuses El Salvador president of 'human trafficking'
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Own goal takes Sundowns to African final against Pyramids
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Scores of buildings damaged, 20 injured in Ecuador quake
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US stocks extend rally as market eyes busy calendar next week
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Pope's death triggers surge of disinformation he fought against
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Rovanpera takes control of Rally Islas Canarias
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Zelensky insists Crimea is Ukrainian as US envoy meets Putin
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Patel and Mendis help Sunrisers beat Kings in Dhoni's 400th T20
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Copa del Rey ref statements 'unacceptable': Real Madrid after boycotting final build-up
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Insurance CEO's accused killer pleads not guilty to federal murder charges
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FBI arrests Wisconsin judge for shielding undocumented migrant
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Brazil ex-president Collor de Mello jailed for corruption
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Zelensky insists Crimea 'belongs' to Ukraine as US envoy meets Putin
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Real Madrid boycott Copa del Rey build-up over referee complaints
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Trinidad and Tobago votes for parliament, PM, with opposition in lead
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IMF chief hails 'constructive' Spring Meetings held under tariff uncertainty
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Iran FM Araghchi in Oman ahead of nuclear talks with US
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Dozens of buildings destroyed, 20 injured in Ecuador quake
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Young Barca must 'enjoy' Real Madrid Copa final fight: Flick
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Pakistan and India border closure separates families
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Brazil's Bolsonaro 'stable' after post-surgery setback
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Catholics in secular Cuba hail Francis as 'bridge'
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US envoy Witkoff, Putin discuss 'possibility' of direct Russia-Ukraine talks
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Community seeks answers after French school knife killing
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German prosecutors seek jail terms in VW 'dieselgate' trial
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Sabalenka makes winning start at Madrid Open
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EU, US should de-escalate and negotiate trade deal: IMF Europe director
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Russia accuses Ukraine of killing general in car bombing
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Emery wants FA Cup glory and Champions League berth for Villa
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Buildings destroyed, one injured in Ecuador quake

What is making 2023 likely the hottest year recorded
Human-made climate change is supercharging natural weather phenomena to drive heatwaves roasting Asia, Europe and North America that could make 2023 the hottest year since records began, scientists say.
Here experts explain how 2023 has got so hot, warning these record temperatures will get worse even if humanity sharply cuts its planet-warming gas emissions.
- El Nino and more -
After a record hot summer in 2022, this year the Pacific warming phenomenon known as El Nino has returned, heating up the oceans.
"This may have provided some additional warmth to the North Atlantic, though because the El Nino event is only just beginning, this is likely only a small portion of the effect," Robert Rohde of US temperature monitoring group Berkeley Earth wrote in an analysis.
The group calculated that there was an 81-percent chance that 2023 would become the warmest year since thermometer records began in the mid-19th century.
- Dust and sulphur -
The warming of the Atlantic may also have been sharpened by a decrease of two substances that typically reflect sunlight away from the ocean: dust blowing off the Sahara desert and sulphur aerosols from shipping fuel.
Rohde's analysis of temperatures in the North Atlantic region noted "exceptionally low levels of dust coming off the Sahara in recent months."
This was due to unusually weak Atlantic trade winds, said Karsten Haustein of Germany's federal Climate Service Centre.
Meanwhile new shipping restrictions in 2020 slashed toxic sulphur emissions. "This would not explain all of the present North Atlantic spike, but may have added to its severity," Rohde noted.
- 'Stagnant' anticyclones –
Warming oceans affect land weather patterns, prompting heatwaves and droughts in some places and storms in others. The hotter atmosphere sucks up moisture and dumps it elsewhere, said Richard Allan, professor of climate science at the University of Reading.
Scientists highlighted the length and intensity of the lingering anticyclone systems bringing the heatwaves.
"Where stagnant high-pressure areas persist over continents, the air sinks and warms, melting away clouds, causing intense summer sunshine to parch the soils, heating the ground and air above," with heatwaves "lodged in place" for weeks, Allan said.
In Europe, "the hot air which pushed in from Africa is now staying put, with settled high pressure conditions meaning that heat in warm sea, land and air continues to build," added Hannah Cloke, a climate scientist at the University of Reading.
- Climate change's role –
Scientists at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in their global summary report this year that climate change had made deadly heatwaves "more frequent and more intense across most land regions since the 1950s".
This month's heatwaves are "not one single phenomenon but several acting at the same time," said Robert Vautard, director of France's Pierre-Simon Laplace climate institute. "But they are all strengthened by one factor: climate change."
Higher global temperatures make heatwaves longer and more intense. Despite being the main driver, climate change is one variable that humans can influence by reducing emissions from fossil fuels.
"We are moving out of the usual and well-known natural oscillations of the climate to unchartered and more extreme territory," said Melissa Lazenby, senior lecturer in climate change at the University of Sussex.
"However, we have the ability to reduce our human influence on the climate and weather and to not create more extreme and long-lasting heatwaves."
- Heat forecast -
Berkeley Earth warned the current El Nino could make Earth even hotter in 2024.
The IPCC has said heatwaves risk getting more frequent and intense, though governments can limit climate change by reducing countries' greenhouse gas emissions.
"This is just the beginning," said Simon Lewis, chair of global change science at University College London.
"Deep, rapid and sustained cuts in carbon emissions to net zero can halt the warming, but humanity will have to adapt to even more severe heatwaves in the future."
Ch.Kahalev--AMWN