Europe is the fastest warming continent

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published this Monday the second edition of its annual report State of the climate in Europe in 2022. Produced jointly by the Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the document notes that climate change is seriously affecting people, economies and the environment in Europe, the continent that is experiencing the fastest warming.

According to the report, the year 2022 was marked by the extreme heat, drought and wildfires. Sea surface temperatures reached new highs across Europe and marine heat waves were recorded. The melting of the glaciers reached unprecedented levels.

In addition, since the eighties the temperature in Europe has risen twice as much as the global average temperature, which has far-reaching consequences for its socioeconomic fabric and its ecosystems. In 2022, the temperature in the region rose approximately 2.3 °C above the average for the pre-industrial period (1850-1900), the value used as a reference in the Paris Agreement.

Renewable energy

However, the UN agency stressed that last year more electricity was generated with renewable sources than with natural gas. Specifically, in 2022 wind energy and solar energy produced 22.3% of the electricity in the European Union, thus surpassing natural gas by 2.3%.

“In order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, it is crucial to increase the use of renewable energy and energy sources with low carbon emissions,” declared the Secretary General of the Organization.

Petteri Taalas added that “climate services are essential to ensure the resilience of energy systems against disturbances, plan its operation and take appropriate measures to enhance energy efficiency”.

Similarly, the report reveals to what extent the increase in extreme weather events, such as episodes of intense heat, heavy rainfall and droughts, increasingly affects the supply, demand and infrastructure of the European energy system.

Heat stress deaths

For his part, the director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service warned that the thermal stress that Europe faced in 2022 as a result of weather conditions was one of the main causes of excess mortality.

“Unfortunately, it cannot be considered a one-time event or an episode due to an anomaly. According to our current knowledge of the climate system and its evolution, these types of phenomena are part of a trend that will increase the frequency and intensity of extreme episodes of thermal stress in the whole region”, explained Carlo Buontempo.

Thus, meteorological, hydrological and climatic phenomena caused in Europe 16,365 fatalities and directly affected 156,000 people in 2022, according to information from the International Disaster Database. Of the total number of victims, the majority died from thermal stress and heat waves.

According to the WMO, about 67% of the events were related to floods and storms that caused most of the total economic damage, valued at about US$2 billion.