Temperatures in Europe have increased at more than twice the global average over the past 30 years, according to a report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The European State of the Climate report, produced with the EU’s Copernicus service, warns that the warming trend will continue, leading to exceptional heat, wildfires, floods and other climate breakdown outcomes affecting society, economies and ecosystems.
From 1991 to 2021, temperatures in Europe warmed at an average rate of about 0.5C per decade. This has had physical consequences: Alpine glaciers lost 30 metres in ice thickness between 1997 and 2021, and the Greenland ice sheet has been melting, contributing to sea level rise. In summer 2021, Greenland recorded its first ever rainfall at its highest point, Summit station.
The report states that in 2021, high-impact weather and climate events – 84% of which were floods and storms – led to hundreds of fatalities, directly affected more than 500,000 people, and caused economic damages exceeding $50bn. WMO secretary general Prof Petteri Taalas 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.”
The report predicts that temperatures will rise in all European areas at a rate exceeding global mean temperature changes. As the climate warms to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, weather events will accelerate, with decreasing summer rainfall likely to cause devastating droughts, followed by extreme rain and flooding in all regions except the Mediterranean.
However, the report notes positive developments: many European countries have cut greenhouse gas emissions significantly, with EU emissions decreasing 31% between 1990 and 2020. Extreme weather-warning systems now protect about 75% of people, and heat-health action plans have saved many lives. Taalas added: “On the mitigation side, the good pace in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the region should continue and ambition should be further increased.”
Europe’s faster warming is attributed to its high percentage of land mass, which warms faster than sea, and its location in the rapidly warming northern latitudes. Feedback systems, such as dried-out soil moisture and double jet streams, also contribute to extreme heat events.
