Based on a new report, the warming rates in Europe have gone as high as double the global average since the 1980s.
Europe: World's Fastest Warming Continent
According to a World Meteorological Organization report, Europe should be prepared for deadlier heat waves brought about by climate change. Europe was reportedly found to be 2.3 degrees Celsius warmer compared to last year and above the average temperatures of the pre-industrial revolution. ABC News notes that the temperatures all over the world from 1850 to 1900 are used as a baseline in the Paris climate record.
Phys explains that record-high sea-surface temperatures, drought that withers crops, and unexpected melting of glaciers are part of the consequences that were explained in the report.
ABC News adds that summer in Europe last year was marked by blazing heat waves, record-breaking temperature levels, and over 1,100 deaths related to heat. The report further indicated that for many countries, such as Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, the UK, and Switzerland, 2022 was the warmest year on record.
The annual average temperature of Europe in 2022 lies between the fourth and second-highest on the records. There was an anomaly of 0.79 degrees Celsius over the average from 1991 to 2020.
Such heat patterns have persisted through 2023. Based on a study, an early-season heat wave experienced by several countries along the Mediterranean Sea was allegedly prompted by anthropogenic climate change.
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Global Warming
According to Phys, the planet has gotten warmer by an average of almost 1.2 degrees Celsius since the mid-1800s. The world's poorest nations and most vulnerable individuals are the ones that took the hardest hit from such climate change impacts.
However, the impacts of global warming are worsening all over the world. Several polar and northern hemisphere regions are seeing rapid warming rates.
Hope for the Future
Despite this saddening and devastating news for Europe and the world, the report still highlights a positive sign. According to the report, wind and solar power accounted for 22.3% of the electricity in the European Union in 2022. This was the first time it had overtaken fossil gas (20%).
According to the report, this was due to various interrelated factors, such as a boost in the solar power installed last year.
Though no significant trends in rain or wind patterns across Europe were observed in the last three decades, the report noted that sunlight saw a marked increase. In fact, in 2022, highest solar radiation amounts were observed since 1983, when records started.
Leslie Mabon, an environmental systems lecturer from the Open University, explains that the recent report confirms things that the world is quite familiar with. One is that climate change has been leading to serious impacts across Europe, and the other is that humanity already has the necessary solutions that come in the form of renewable energy technologies.
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