Temperatures in Europe are rising twice as fast as the global average and this increase is faster than on any other continent, according to the ‘State of the European Climate 2022’ report released today.
The report by the Copernicus Climate Change Monitoring Service, one of six thematic information services of the European Union’s Earth Observation programme, indicates that 2022 was the second warmest year in Europe since records, at 0.9 degrees Celsius (ºC) above average, and the summer was the warmest ever, at 1.4°C above average.
“Europe experienced the hottest summer on record, aggravated by several extreme events, such as intense heat waves, drought conditions and extensive forest fires,” the document states.
According to Copernicus, most of Western Europe experienced heat waves and temperatures in the United Kingdom exceeded 40°C for the first time, while the highest average surface temperature in Europe’s seas was also recorded.
The “State of the European Climate 2022” report warns of the consequences that the extreme heat recorded in late spring and summer had on human health, stressing that southern Europe experienced a record number of days with “very strong heat stress” due to extreme heat waves during the summer.
The European Earth Observation Service also maintains that Europe is witnessing an upward trend in the number of summer days with “strong heat stress” or “very strong” and in southern Europe there is already “extreme heat stress”.
The Copernicus Climate Change Monitoring Service points out that one of the most significant events affecting Europe in 2022 was widespread drought, with much of the continent experiencing fewer than average snow days during the winter of 2021-2022 and many areas even having fewer than 30 days.
In spring, rainfall was below average across much of the continent, notably in May, which recorded the least amount of rainfall ever.
According to the report, the lack of snow in winter and high temperatures in summer resulted in a record loss of ice on glaciers in the Alps, equivalent to a loss of more than five cubic kilometres of ice.
“The low rainfall, which continued throughout the summer, coupled with exceptional heat waves, also caused a widespread and prolonged drought that affected several sectors, such as agriculture, river transport and energy,” says the report, stressing that soil moisture was the second lowest in the last 50 years, with only isolated areas showing wetter than average soil moisture conditions.
The document states that 2022 was the driest year in Europe on record, with 63% of Europe’s rivers having below average flows, and reports that forest fire danger conditions in 2022 were above average for most of the year, with Copernicus scientists who monitor fires around the world finding significant increases in carbon emissions in some parts of Europe in the summer of last year.
According to Copernicus, estimated total carbon emissions in EU countries for the summer of 2022 were the highest since 2007, with France, Spain, Germany and Slovenia recording the highest figures for 20 years and south-western Europe experiencing some of the largest fires in Europe.
The report also indicates that temperatures in the Arctic have increased much faster than in most of the rest of the world, with 2022 being the sixth warmest year on record, and the worst affected region was the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, which had the hottest summer on record, with some areas reaching temperatures 2.5°C above average.
During the past year, Greenland has also experienced extreme weather conditions, including exceptional heat and rainfall in September, a time of year when snow is most common, recording average temperatures of up to 8°C above average that month, as well as the island being affected by three different heat waves, which caused record ice sheet melt.
The Copernicus Climate Change Monitoring Service follows the World Meteorological Organization’s recommendation to use the most recent 30-year period (1991-2020) to calculate climatological averages.
*with Lusa
