On this Earth Day, a new report reminds us that our beautiful planet is in trouble. The European climate change service Copernicus (C3S) points out this Friday in its annual climate report that the past year has accumulated anomalies. “2021 has been a year of extremeswith notably the hottest summer in EuropeMediterranean heat waves, floods and a lack of wind, showing that understanding weather and climate extremes is increasingly important for key sectors of society.”comments in a press release Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus.
Since the pre-industrial era, the planet’s temperature has risen between 1.1 and 1.2°C due to human activities, but Europe is warming faster with an average temperature rise of +2° C, notes the report.
Intense fires
This warming is already causing an increase in extreme weather events around the world, and our continent is not spared. The particularly hot summer was notably marked by particularly intense heat waves lasting several weeks. The mercury rose to 48.8°C in Sicily, a new European record (which has yet to be officially approved) or 47°C in Spain, a new national record.
Heat accompanied by persistent drought, particularly in the Mediterranean, creating conditions conducive to fires, particularly in Italy, Greece and Turkey. A total area of 800,000 hectares went up in smoke in July and August, making this fire season one of the most intense in Europe for thirty years.
Conversely, after record rains on July 14, 2021, Germany and Belgium were devastated by floods which left more than 200 dead and billions of euros in damage. A disaster whose probability has been increased by 20% to 900% due to global warming, according to researchers from the World Weather Attribution. In the spring, an episode of late frost hit when nature had already budded, damaging a number of vines and fruit trees, from France to northern Greece.
The report also shows that the “Annual wind speeds in parts of western and central Europe were among the lowest since at least 1979”. Ireland, UK, Denmark and Germany are below average while in “In some parts of south-eastern Europe, annual wind speeds were much higher than average”.
For now, the clearest imprint of climate change in Europe is the intensification of heat waves. But, according to scientists, other extreme events will follow the same trajectory. “We expect them to increase in the future”warns Freja Vamborg, lead author of the report.
“Need to act”
This inventory of the European climate also points to the even faster warming of the Arctic, with an average of +3°C compared to the pre-industrial era. If 2021 is not a record year for the Arctic, the temperature recorded was nevertheless 0.4°C higher than normal and fires have ravaged the region, in particular eastern Siberia, releasing 16 million tonnes of carbon (4th highest volume since measurements began in 2003).
The Greenland sea ice, for its part, melted like never before, recording its lowest extent ever measured, 72% below normal. Under the influence of higher than normal temperatures and southerly winds, the ice largely melted during the summer, leaving eastern Greenland virtually ice-free by the end of the season.
“Scientists, including the IPCC (UN climate experts) have warned us that time is running out to limit warming to +1.5°C”, the most ambitious objective of the Paris Agreement, comments Mauro Facchini, Director of Earth Observation at the European Commission.
In its latest report published in early April, the IPCC notably stressed that the economy had to be completely reformed and emissions capped within less than three years to hope to maintain a world “livable”. The Copernicus Report “stresses the need for action, extreme climate-related events are already happening in Europe”insists director Mauro Facchini.