New study reveals impact of baseline choice on 2022 Yangtze River Valley heat wave extremity

In the summer of 2022, China's Yangtze River Valley (YRV) endured an unprecedented heat wave, severely affecting human society and ecosystems. Traditionally, the extremity of such hot events has been evaluated against a fixed historical baseline (e.g., 1979–2022), suggesting record-breaking magnitudes. However, recent research underscores the significance of the chosen baseline in quantifying these extremes.