By Natasha BulowskiLocal Journalism Initiative ReporterMajor polluters have contributed significantly to the frequency and severity of devastating heat waves over the last two decades, a new study reveals. The paper, published in Nature, found emissions from 180 fossil fuel and cement companies made 213 major heat waves, including BC’s deadly 2021 heat dome, more intense and likely to occur. Researchers at ETH Zurich University analyzed emissions from 180 of the world’s largest fossil fuel and cement companies to calculate their contribution to global warming. Once researchers had the numbers, they calculated how much each company contributed to global warming, and from there, determined how this warming affected the severity of individual heat waves. In May, the daughter of a woman, who died from hyperthermia in Seattle during the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome, filed a wrongful death action to hold fossil fuel companies liable.