MADRID, 20 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Europe lived in 2022 the second warmest year in its history, its hottest summer since there are records and a general drought throughout the continent.
These are the main conclusions of the State of the Climate in Europe report published this Thursday by the EU Climate Change Service, Copernicus.
The work, which compiles the most significant climatic and meteorological events of 2022, concludes that much of Europe suffered “intense and prolonged” heat waves as well as the highest number of days with “very strong heat stress”.
Specifically, the average temperature in 2022 in Europe was 0.9ºC higher than the average for the reference period 1991-2020 and the average summer temperature on the continent was 1.4ºC higher than the average.
The year was also marked by a low volume of rainfall which, together with the high temperatures, caused a generalized drought. In this environment, forest fires increased and carbon emissions from summer fires were the highest in 15 years and in some countries even the highest emissions in 20 years.
Two other records were also broken, the number of hours of sunshine and the loss of ice from glaciers in the Alps, which reached their maximum level in 2022.
The lengthy European meteorological analysis also shows that the Arctic suffered its sixth warmest year on record and the Svalbard region suffered its hottest summer ever recorded, with average temperatures in some areas exceeding 2.5ºC above their average value. Greenland also suffered a record melting of the ice sheet during exceptional heat waves in September.
This increased amount of surface solar radiation, the highest in 40 years, however, led to above-average solar PV generation potential across most of Europe. However, potential onshore wind power generation remained below average in most of Europe, especially in the center and south.
According to the Copernicus report, Europe is no stranger to the global situation, as the last eight years have been the warmest on record worldwide. In 2022, the average annual global concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) reached their highest levels ever measured by satellite.
In total, the hottest summer on record in Europe was exacerbated by several extremes such as several heat waves, drought and extensive forest fires, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) which has found that temperatures across Europe are increasing at twice the world average rate; faster than any other continent.
In this context, the head of Earth Observation of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Defense and Space Industry, Mauro Facchini, recalled that the latest IPCC summary report warns that global warming has given give rise to more frequent and intense extreme phenomena and that the time to stop it “is running out”.
“Only accurate information and data on the current state of the climate can help us achieve the goals we have set for ourselves, and the State of Europe’s Climate Report is an essential tool to support the European Union with its adaptation agenda. change and its commitment to achieve climate neutrality by 2050”, he assessed.
Specifically, temperature, an important climate indicator, shows how the European average for the last 5-year period was around 2.2 °C above the pre-industrial era (1850-1900) and that 2022, with 0 .9ºC above average was the second warmest year on record, based on the 1991-2020 reference period.
Copernicus claims that the extremes of heat during late spring and summer were dangerous to human health. Due to extreme heat waves during the summer, southern Europe experienced a record number of days with “very strong heat stress”. Europe is seeing an upward trend in the number of summer days with ‘strong’ or ‘very strong’ heat stress, and the same is seen in southern Europe with ‘extreme heat stress’. There is also a decreasing trend in the number of days without heat stress.
CS3 director Carlo Buontempo warns that the report highlights “alarming changes” in the climate, including the hottest summer ever recorded in Europe, marked by unprecedented marine heatwaves in the Mediterranean Sea and record temperatures in Greenland.
“Understanding climate dynamics in Europe is crucial for our efforts to adapt and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on the continent,” he explains.
Rising temperatures in Europe are part of an upward trend that has been affecting the world for the past few decades. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) will publish this Friday its report ‘State of the Global Climate 2022’.
CS3 highlights widespread drought as one of the most significant events to affect Europe in 2022. During the winter of 2021-2022 there were fewer days of snow on average, up to 30 fewer days in many areas, and rainfall was also below below average in much of the continent.
May saw its lowest rainfall for the month and a lack of snow combined with high summer temperatures led to a record loss of ice from glaciers in the Alps, equivalent to a loss of more than 5 cubic kilometers of ice. All this affected sectors such as agriculture, river transport and energy.
In terms of soil moisture, 2022 recorded the second lowest in the last 50 years and the flow of Europe’s rivers was the second lowest on record, marking the sixth consecutive year with below-average flows. In terms of affected area, 2022 was the driest year on record, with 63 percent of European rivers with below-average flows.
On the other hand, Europe as a whole had above average fire danger conditions during not only summer but most of the year and significant increases in carbon emissions from forest fires were tracked for some European regions in the summer of 2022.
In total, the estimated total emissions in EU countries for the summer of 2022 were the highest since 2007. France, Spain, Germany and Slovenia also experienced their highest summer forest fire emissions for at least the last 20 years. , and southwestern Europe experienced some of the largest fires on record.
CS3 Deputy Director Samantha Burgess has made an impact that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is imperative to mitigating the worst effects of climate change and understanding and responding to changes and variability in renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar, is critical to supporting the energy transition to NetZero. “Accurate and timely data improves the profitability of this energy transition,” she pointed out.
