Anthropogenic Warming Amplifies the Impact of the Tibetan Plateau Snow Cover on Eastern Europe Heat Waves

Abstract Heat waves represent significant threats to human health and the socioeconomic landscape. In recent decades, eastern Europe has experienced a notable increase in the frequency of summer heat waves. Through observational analyses and numerical modeling experiments, we establish a significant connection between the rising trend of late summer heat waves in eastern Europe and early summer decline in the Tibetan Plateau snow cover (TPSC) in the context of a warming climate. We revealed that anthropogenic warming enhances the thermal effects of reduced western TPSC in early summer and intensifies the cross-seasonal snow–heat wave relationship. The critical amplification mechanism involves the development of a distinct European “double jet” pattern. This configuration enhances energy conversion within the midlatitude waveguide while suppressing energy dispersion, thereby facilitating the intensification and persistence of the TPSC-related high pressure system over eastern Europe. Consequently, this high pressure system has positioned eastern Europe as a hotspot in late summer within the context of anthropogenic warming. These findings underscore the role of human-induced climate change in amplifying the impact of TPSC on boreal climate dynamics.