Last summer was the warmest ever recorded in Europe, according to evaluations by the EU’s Copernicus climate change service. The full year of 2022 was the second warmest in Europe since records began in 1979, according to a Copernicus report on climate extremes presented Tuesday. The annual temperatures were not exceeded until 2020.
According to the report, heat waves, combined with hardly any rain and dry soils, caused periods of drought in many parts of Europe, leading to problems in agriculture, shipping and the energy industry. The extreme drought also increased the risk of bushfires – summers are estimated to have had the highest emissions of bushfires in the EU and UK over the last 15 years.
“Another year of climate extremes”
“2022 was another year of extreme climates in Europe and the rest of the world. These events demonstrate that we are already feeling the devastating effects of our warming world,” said agency deputy director Samantha Burgess. To avoid the worst consequences, emissions must be reduced urgently and society must adapt to the changing climate.
From its measurements and estimates, the EU agency also deduces that temperatures in Europe have risen more than twice the global average over the past 30 years and that Europe is warming the most of all the continents.
Global warming continues
According to Copernicus, 2022 was the fifth warmest year globally and the past eight years have been the warmest on record. On average, it was 0.3 degrees warmer last year than in the Copernicus reference period from 1991 to 2020. Compared to the pre-industrial era, this means global warming of about 1.2 degrees.
Carbon dioxide and methane are reaching record levels
The international community of states wants to stop global warming at a maximum of 1.5 degrees to prevent the most catastrophic consequences of climate change. However, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere did not decrease last year either, on the contrary. Both the concentration of carbon dioxide and the extremely potent greenhouse gas methane rose: an annual average of 417 ppm (parts per million – parts of CO2 per million parts) for carbon dioxide and 1894 ppb (parts per billion – parts of methane per billion parts) for methane. According to Copernicus, these are the highest values for both gases since measurements began. If you include other measurements, these are even the highest values for hundreds of thousands of years.
“Greenhouse gases are the main drivers of climate change”
“Greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, are the main drivers of climate change, and our measurements show that concentrations in the atmosphere continue to rise with no sign of slowing down,” said Vincent-Henri Peuch, who heads the Copernicus Monitoring Service. .
Copernicus data dates back to 1979. The Climate Change Service also uses data from ground stations, balloons, aircraft and satellites dating back to 1950. Data on temperatures, sea ice cover and other aspects are published monthly using computer analysis.
Source: Krone
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
