An unsurprising but edifying report. According to data from the European service Copernicus, Europe was hit hard during the year 2022 by climate change: rivers and groundwater at their lowest, scorching summer and giant fires followed one another during the summer of 2022. European report published on Thursday 20 April provides new details on the challenge facing the continent.
The world is warming due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases generated by human activity, mainly CO2 and methane (CH4), the concentration of which reached its highest level ever last year. measured by satellites, according to data from the European Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The last eight years have thus been the hottest on record, he said in his annual report, confirming the preliminary data published in January.
Europe, where the temperature is climbing twice as fast as the global average, has experienced its hottest summer on record since records began in 1950. The continent has warmed 2.2°C since then. the pre-industrial era, compared to 1.2°C for the planet as a whole.
“The report highlights worrying trends, with 2022 still being a record year for greenhouse gas concentrations, extreme temperatures, wildfires and (deficit of) rainfall, all of which have had noticeable impacts. on ecosystems and communities across the continent,” Carlo Buontempo, Director of C3S, pointed out during a press conference. “We are moving into uncharted territory,” he said.
“Around the world, some years will be warmer and some will be cooler. But the odds of warmer years are increasing,” said Samantha Burgess, C3S Deputy Director. Europe was notably hit by a very widespread drought last year, with less snow than usual during the winter of 2021-2022 and then below-average rainfall in spring over a large part of the continent. Alpine glaciers have lost the equivalent of 5 cubic kilometers of ice. The summer heat waves contributed to an “extensive and prolonged drought” which notably affected sectors of activity such as agriculture, river transport and energy.
Several indicators specified on Thursday reflect this exceptional situation. Thus, the flow of European rivers was the second lowest on record, “marking the sixth year in a row with flows below average”. Copernicus thus counts 63% of European rivers whose flows are below average, a record.
For this year, it is already certain that agriculture will suffer in southern Europe, even in the event of late rains. France is already on high alert with early water restrictions, as is Spain, where water reservoirs are abnormally low. “There will probably be a reduced crop this year due to the dry winter and spring we’ve had,” said Samantha Burgess.
These dry and hot conditions last summer were conducive to the fires, which generated their highest carbon emissions across the EU since 2017, notes Copernicus. “Germany, Spain, France and Slovenia also experienced their highest summer fire emissions in at least 20 years, with South West Europe experiencing some of its biggest fires. never registered,” notes the European service.
“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is imperative to mitigating the worst effects of climate change,” said Samantha Burgess. The IPCC, the climate experts mandated by the United Nations, recently called for ambitious measures to be taken in the face of global warming. According to its summary report published in March, it will reach 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era as early as the years 2030-2035.
“Understanding and responding to the changes and variability of renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar, is key to supporting the energy transition to carbon neutrality,” Burgess also emphasized. On this point, Copernicus calculates that Europe received last year its highest level of solar radiation on the ground for 40 years, good news at least for the production of photovoltaic electricity.