The severe drought of the 1930s Dust Bowl decade coincided with record-breaking summer heatwaves that contributed to the socio-economic and ecological disaster over North America's Great Plains. This study uses an atmospheric-only model to show that anomalously warm North Atlantic SSTs enhanced heatwave activity through drier spring conditions. Model devegetation simulations suggest human activity fueled stronger and more frequent heatwaves through greater evaporative drying. The study highlights the potential for amplification of naturally occurring extreme events by vegetation feedbacks, creating more extreme heatwaves in a warmer world.

Tim Cowan, Gabriele C. Hegerl, Andrew Schurer, Simon F. B. Tett, Robert Vautard, Pascal Yiou, Aglaé Jézéquel, Friederike E. L. Otto, Luke J. Harrington, Benjamin Ng