Europe had second-warmest year on record in 2022, EU scientists say
Send a link to a friend
[January 10, 2023]
By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe experienced its second-warmest year on
record in 2022, European Union scientists said on Tuesday, as climate
change unleashed record-breaking weather extremes that slashed crop
yields, dried up rivers and led to thousands of deaths.
The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said 2022 was also the
world's fifth-warmest year, by a small margin. C3S records date back to
1950, but other, longer datasets confirm 2022 was the world's
fifth-warmest year since at least 1850.
The last eight years were the world's eight hottest on record, C3S said.
The planet is now 1.2C warmer than in pre-industrial times, as a result
of human-caused climate change, C3S said. Copernicus said temperatures
in Europe have increased by more than twice the global average over the
last three decades.
"We are already experiencing the devastating consequences of our warming
world," said C3S deputy director Samantha Burgess, who called for urgent
action to cut CO2 emissions and adapt to the changing climate.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jan/10/images/ads/current/culligan_sda_HFH_2022.png)
Last summer was Europe's hottest on record, smashing temperature records
in countries including Italy, Spain and Croatia. Severe heatwaves caused
more than 20,000 "excess" deaths in countries including France, Germany,
Spain and Britain.
Combined with a dearth of rain, the heat triggered a widespread drought
that initial analysis ranked as Europe's worst in 500 years. Low water
levels delayed shipping along Germany's Rhine, while the lack of rain
hit hydropower generation and slashed maize and soybean crop yields.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/011023PIX/news_a63.jpg)
A wildfire burns near Margarida, Spain,
August 17, 2022. REUTERS/Lorena Sopena
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jan/10/images/ads/current/cefcu_sda_LUAL_2022.png)
The hot, dry spell fuelled intense wildfires in countries from Spain
to Slovenia, unleashing more emissions across the EU and Britain
than in any summer of the last 15 years.
Britain experienced its hottest year on record in 2022, its national
weather service said on Wednesday.
Global temperatures will only stop rising if countries reduce their
emissions to "net zero" - meaning they release no more greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere than they remove.
The 27-country EU, Britain, Canada, Japan and others have pledged to
reach that goal by 2050, with China and India aiming to achieve it
later.
Despite those long-term pledges, global emissions continue to rise.
Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere averaged around 417
ppm in 2022 - the highest level for over 2 million years, C3S said.
Other parts of the world faced a year of climate devastation, as
global warming continued to hit the world's poor and vulnerable
populations hardest. Flooding in Pakistan killed at least 1,700
people, while drought decimated livestock populations in Somalia.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jan/10/images/ads/current/castlemanor_sda_FINANCIAL_2017.png) |