Europe continues to experience extreme climate events in 2021

This is the content of the report of EU scientists published on April 22.

Summer temperatures in Europe for 2021 are about 1°C above the three-decade average. Italy even recorded a temperature of 48.8°C, a record high in the whole of Europe.

One batch hot particularly bad has taken place in the Mediterranean region, leading to mass Forest fires severe, burning more than 800,000 hectares in countries including Greece, Turkey and Italy. Meanwhile, record rainfall led to devastating floods across Belgium and western Germany, killing more than 200 people.

The report, published annually by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), draws on the results of satellite observations, in situ measurements and computer models to provide up-to-date information on the state of the climate. of this continent.

Floods caused by heavy rain in Kreuzberg, Germany, on July 19, 2021. (Photo: Reuters)

“We are facing a lot of challenges,” said Mauro Facchini, head of the Copernicus Unit in the EU.

Mr. Facchini said that the record high temperatures in 2021 and extreme weather show that there is an urgent need for countries to cut emissions greenhouse effect to avoid further warming that would cause more destructive weather events.

Globally, the past 7 years have been the warmest on record. However, 2021 will be a bit colder than recent years due to the La Nina weather phenomenon, which cools sea temperatures in the North of the globe.

Although countries have pledged to follow the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, most have failed to make progress. full set. In 2021, CO . emissions₂ The global market has rebounded sharply after a temporary drop caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Burnt dry grassland in southern Spain, August 11, 2021. (Photo: Reuters)

Climate scientists have found that catastrophic flooding in Western Europe in the summer of 2021 is at least 20% more likely to be caused by climate change, reflecting the climate principle. A warming atmosphere can capture 7% more moisture, leading to more rain.

“This is one of the most obvious and visible changes that we are seeing as a result of global warming,” said Wim Thiery, a climate scientist at Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Governments have made some progress in adapting to such events by creating natural floodplains, said Mr Thiery, but cutting greenhouse gas emissions is the cheapest option. and most effective to limit climate hazards.

The report also shows that sea surface temperatures in 2021 in the Baltic and Mediterranean seas are the highest since satellite records began in the early 1990s. Freja Vamborg, a researcher “Temperatures in some areas in the Baltic are 5°C above average, which is quite high for (the ocean),” said senior climate science officer at C3S.

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