Europe is particularly feeling the effects of climate change: of all continents, it has recorded the highest rise in temperature in the past 30 years. According to a study, the temperature has risen by about 0.5 degrees per decade since 1991. But there are also positive things to report.
Temperatures in Europe have risen more than twice as fast as the global average over the past 30 years – the fastest of any continent in the world. According to the climate report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the EU’s Climate Change Service, temperatures in Europe rose by an average of 0.5 degrees Celsius per decade between 1991 and 2021. The trend should therefore continue.
The WMO divides the world into six regions. The European region includes 50 countries and also includes half of the Arctic.
Due to warming, the Alpine glaciers lost around 30 meters of their ice thickness between 1997 and 2021, according to the report published in the run-up to the UN climate conference in Egypt starting on Sunday. The Greenland ice sheet is also melting rapidly, accelerating sea level rise. Last year, rain instead of snow was recorded for the first time at the highest point of the ice sheet.
The situation in Europe shows that “even well-armed societies are not safe from the effects of extreme weather events,” explained WMO boss Petteri Taalas. He referred to the extreme heat and forest fires in Europe this summer and last, as well as last year’s devastating storms and floods.
At the same time, the report also highlights some positive aspects. Among other things, greenhouse gas emissions fell by almost a third in the entire EU between 1990 and 2020, and cross-border cooperation in adapting to climate change is exemplary.
‘European society is vulnerable to climate variability and change,’ said Carlo Buontempo, head of Copernicus’ European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). “But Europe is also at the forefront of international efforts to curb climate change and to develop innovative solutions for adapting to the new climate.”
