The climate crisis in Europe is getting worse: the World Weather Organization and the EU Climate Change Service are sounding the alarm

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In the course of the climate crisis, the European continent is warming on average twice as fast as the world. The impact is getting more drastic every year, according to the State of the Climate in Europe 2022 report.

However, the authors also see a sign of hope: the rapid expansion of renewable energy sources in the European Union for power generation. The World Weather Organization (WMO) and the EU’s Climate Change Service Copernicus presented the report on Monday in Dublin at the 6th European Conference on Adaptation to Climate Change.

Glacier melting was stronger than ever before in 2022 and led to record mass loss, caused by very little snow in winter, very warm summer and dust deposits from the Sahara.

Heat, drought and forest fires

Sea surface warming, for example, in the eastern Mediterranean, Baltic and Black Seas and in the southern Arctic, was more than three times the global average, it said. As a result, native species have migrated and invasive species have migrated, leading to ecosystem and biodiversity disruption.

In Western and Southwestern Europe, some countries have experienced their warmest year on record, according to the report. The record heat was one of the main reasons why more people died than the long-term average. According to current insights into the climate system, such events are likely to become more frequent and could become even more intense, says Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo.

According to the report, heat, drought and forest fires will make life difficult for many people in 2022. 16,365 people died as a result of meteorological events, almost exclusively due to heat waves.

The average temperature was therefore 2.3 degrees above the pre-industrial average (1850 to 1900). Since the 1980s, Europe has warmed on average twice as fast as the world. In the Paris climate agreement, countries agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels if possible. (SDA)

Source: Blick