BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Last year was the fifth hottest on record in the world, as levels of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere, the cause of global warming, reached new highs in 2021, according to the Copernicus European Science Department on Climate Change (C3S).
Globally, 2021 was the fifth warmest year on record, with an average temperature of 1.1 to 1.2C above 1850-1900 levels. The past seven years have been the warmest on record in the world, “by a clear margin,” C3S said in a report released Monday.
The trend of long-term global warming has continued and record-breaking weather conditions swept the world over the past year, ranging from floods in Europe, China and South Sudan, to forest fires in Siberia and the United States. United.
“These events are a stark reminder of the need to change our habits, to take decisive and effective measures in favor of a sustainable society and to work to reduce net carbon emissions”, declared Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S.
The hottest years on record were 2020 and 2016.
Global levels of CO2 and methane in the atmosphere – the main greenhouse gases – have continued to rise, peaking in 2021.
T THE HOTTEST EVER RECORDED IN EUROPE
CO2 levels thus reached 414.3 parts per million (ppm) in 2021, an increase of about 2.4 ppm from 2020, according to C3S.
As for methane, C3S said levels have jumped over the past two years, but the reasons remain unclear. Methane emissions come from oil and gas production, agriculture and natural sources.
As a result, Europe experienced its hottest summer on record in 2021, after a hot March and unusually cold April decimated fruit crops in countries like France and Hungary.
In July and August, a Mediterranean heat wave caused intense forest fires in countries like Turkey and Greece. Sicily has even set a new European temperature record – which awaits official confirmation – of 48.8C.
Also in California, a record heat wave was followed by the second largest forest fire in state history.
In July, more than 200 people died in the deadly floods in Western Europe, as well as in China in Henan province where 300 people died.
Scientists have concluded that these events have been exacerbated by climate change and that other extreme events are likely to become more frequent or more serious in the future.
(Report Kate Abnet; French version Dina Kartit, said by Jean-Michel Blot)
by Kate Abnett