Due to climate change, Europe is heating up very quickly: what is known about the consequences
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Europe is warming faster than other parts of the world. This is stated in the report of the World Meteorological Organization and the Climate Change Service of the European Union, reports AFP. Over the past 30 years, the temperature in Europe has risen by 1.5°C higher than in the pre-industrial period. Last year, Europe was about 2.3 degrees warmer. France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Great Britain experienced their warmest year on record. Among the consequences of warming are drought, forest fires, record sea surface temperatures and unprecedented melting of glaciers. Photo: KukiLadrondeGuevara/Depositphotos According to the agreement, the most vulnerable and the world’s poorest countries, which have made almost no contribution to temperature-raising fossil fuel emissions, will suffer the most. The intense heat led to the death of more than 16,000 people last year. Floods and storms caused most of the damage from extreme weather and climate conditions, amounting to US$2 billion. Rising temperatures have wreaked havoc on economies and ecosystems. The Alps recorded a new record loss of glacier mass in 2022, caused by very low snow levels in winter and hot summers. A similar situation existed in the oceans: the average temperature of the surface of the sea in the North Atlantic was the hottest in the entire history of observations. The rate of warming in the eastern Mediterranean, Baltic and Black seas and the southern part of the Arctic was more than three times the global average. Much of the continent saw below-normal rainfall, damaging agricultural production and water supplies, creating conditions for wildfires. Large fires broke out in parts of France, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. For example, the water supply in Spain was reduced by less than half, in some regions of France farmers could not irrigate their fields, and in Germany dry conditions adversely affected the harvest of cereals and grapes. The report also mentions a noticeable increase in sunlight. 2022 saw the highest amount of solar radiation since records began in 1983. The drought also affected energy production. However, in 2022 wind and solar energy accounted for 22.3% of all EU electricity, overtaking fossil gas for the first time. This was due to a combination of factors, including a significant increase in solar power last year. “Unfortunately, this cannot be considered a one-off or a climate freak. Events like this are part of a pattern that will make extreme heat events more frequent and more intense across the region,” says director of the European Union’s Climate Change Service, Carlo Buontempo. It will be recalled that scientists have stated that the area of sea ice in Antarctica is shrinking very quickly. Because of this, global weather and climate changes are taking place. Read also: Climate change could lead to tsunamis in the Southern Ocean with human casualties – study
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