A disturbing record. The summer of 2022, taken into account over the period from June to August, was the hottest ever recorded in Europe, announced Thursday, September 8 the European climate change observation program, Copernicus. According to his readings, the average temperatures were “the highest, both for the month of August and the whole summer”exceeding for the three months by 0.4°C those of 2021, the previous record.
The summer season has seen an increase in disasters linked to global warming, and has been marked by a historic drought. “An intense series of heat waves and unusual droughts led to a summer of extremes, said Freja Vamborg, scientific officer of the service, with records for temperatures, droughts and fires in many places in Europe.”
august #Temperature highlights from #CopernicusClimate Change Service:
Last month was:
Globally 0.3°C warmer than 1991-2020 average
Joint 3rd warmest August on record
For Europe the highest on record for August & summer (June-August) as a wholehttps://t.co/zsxQcL4P22 pic.twitter.com/T1fVlVZUcF
— Copernicus ECMWF (@CopernicusECMWF) September 8, 2022
On social networks, the Copernicus service shared several maps showing the glaring difference in vegetation between the years 2021 and 2022 in Europe. “August was much drier in western Europe and several parts of the east (of the continent)”detail the scientists of the service.
In 2022, #drought has affected the whole of Europe
Observe how our continent has changed with this mosaic of images acquired by #Copernicus #Sentinel2 ️ between 1 July and 31 August
2021
2022#Drought2022 pic.twitter.com/lXITzYwDFt— Copernicus EU (@CopernicusEU) September 5, 2022
Conversely, the period was wetter than average over most of Scandinavia and parts of southern and southeastern Europe. Copernicus recalls that the southern regions have been hit by extreme winds and precipitation, a rare phenomenon referred to as the “derecho” storm.