The report of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) of the UN mentions in particular the floods which have occurred in certain parts of central Europe and the fires which have affected south-eastern Europe this summer.
Article written by
Published
Update
Reading time : 1 min.
The European continent is the fastest warming continent, recording a rise in temperatures more than twice the global average over the past thirty years, the UN reported on Wednesday (November 2). Temperatures in Europe have undergone a considerable rise over the period 1991-2021, with a warming of around +0.5°C per decade, reveals a report compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) of the United Nations and the European Copernicus climate change service.
“This is the fastest warming of the six regions defined by the WMO”, underlined the Secretary General of the WMO, the Finn Petteri Taalas, in the foreword to this report on the climate in Europe. WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis told AFP that the Arctic, which as a whole is warming faster than Europe, is indeed not considered a region in its own right by the organization.
As a result of rapid warming in Europe, alpine glaciers have lost 30 meters in thickness between 1997 and 2021. Another consequence is that the Greenland ice sheet is gradually melting, helping to accelerate sea level rise. n the summer of 2021, Greenland recorded rain for the first time at its highest point, Summit station.
>> REPORT. “If we have several summers like that, it’s the end of the glaciers”: in the Ecrins massif, heat waves threaten the white giants
Europe “offers a vivid picture of a warming planet and it reminds us that even well-prepared societies are not immune to the consequences of extreme weather events”pointed out Peteri Taalas.
“In 2021, a series of extreme weather and climate events occurred in various parts of Europe. The exceptionally severe floods which caused an unprecedented number of deaths and damage in parts of Western Europe and Central in July, and the destructive fires that devastated Southeastern Europe this summer, will live on in the memories of affected nations and in international climate records.”he added.