Temperatures in Europe have increased at more than twice the global average over the past 30 years – the highest of any continent in the world, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The State of the Climate in Europe report, produced jointly with the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, focused on 2021. It provides information on rising temperatures, land and marine heatwaves, extreme weather, changing precipitation patterns and retreating ice and snow.
Temperatures over Europe have warmed significantly over the 1991-2021 period, at an average rate of about +0.5 °C per decade. As a result, Alpine glaciers lost 30m (ft) in ice thickness from 1997 to 2021. The Greenland ice sheet is melting and contributing to accelerating sea level rise. In summer 2021, Greenland saw a melt event and the first-ever recorded rainfall at its highest point, Summit station.
Annual average temperature anomaly for 1900-2021 compared to the 1981-2010 reference period for land-
only over Europe – credit: UK MetOffice
In 2021, high impact weather and climate events led to hundreds of fatalities, directly affected more than half a million people and caused economic damages exceeding US$50bn. About 84% of the events were floods or storms.
However, the report states that some countries in Europe have been very successful in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, European Union (EU) greenhouse gas emissions decreased 31% between 1990 and 2020, with a net 55% reduction target for 2030.
Europe is also one of the most advanced regions in cross-border cooperation in climate change adaptation, particularly across transnational river basins. It is one of the world leaders in providing effective early warning systems, with about 75% of people protected. Heat-health action plans have saved many lives from extreme heat.
Prof. Petteri Taalas, WMO secretary-general, said, “Europe presents a live picture of a warming world and reminds us that even well prepared societies are not safe from impacts of extreme weather events. This year, like 2021, large parts of Europe have been affected by extensive heatwaves and drought, fueling wildfires. In 2021, exceptional floods caused death and devastation.
“On the mitigation side, the good pace in reducing greenhouse gases emissions in the region should continue and ambition should be further increased. Europe can play a key role towards achieving a carbon neutral society by the middle of the century to meet the Paris Agreement,” he said.
The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by ECMWF on behalf of the European Commission, provides state-of-the-art climate monitoring data and tools to support climate mitigation and adaptation and initiatives such as the European Green Deal.
Dr. Carlo Buontempo, director, C3S, ECMWF, said, “European society is vulnerable to climate variability and change, but Europe is also at the forefront of the international effort to mitigate climate change and to develop innovative solutions to adapt to the new climate Europeans will have to live with.
“As the risks and impact of climate change become increasingly apparent in day-to-day life, the need and the appetite grow for climate intelligence, and rightly so. With this report we aim to bridge the gap between the data and the analysis to provide science-based but accessible information that is ‘decision-ready’, across sectors, across professions,” he said.
The State of the Climate in Europe report builds on the C3S European State of the Climate published in April and information provided by the WMO RA VI Regional Climate Centre Network. It is one of a series of regional reports compiled by WMO to provide localized scientific information to policy makers. It was presented at a regional conference of directors of European national meteorological and hydrological services.
The report and an accompanying story map was issued ahead of the annual UN Climate Change negotiations, COP27, in Sharm-El Sheikh.
To view the complete WMO report, click here.
