High temperatures in summer 2022 will also affect the Arctic, accelerating melting of ice caps
European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 Images
According to the European Climate Change Report, Europe will experience its hottest summer on record in 2022, making it the second hottest year on record. The annual report released today also reveals that temperatures across Europe are warming twice as fast as the global average, with the continent experiencing a 2.2°C increase since pre-industrial times. doing.
Figures derived from multiple data sets, including satellite, in-situ measurements, and numerical weather forecasting models, fit broader global warming trends, with global data indicating that the last eight years were the warmest on record. increase.
Samantha Burgess of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, who compiled the data for the report, said the likelihood of a warmer year, both globally and in Europe, is increasing year by year due to rising greenhouse gas levels. says.
“If you imagine a deck of cards where black cards are for cold years and red cards are for warm years, the global heating effect would be like removing black cards from the deck each year and replacing them with red cards. says Burgess.
No part of Europe escaped the extremes of 2022 unscathed. Summer highs were 10°C higher than usual in Western Europe, and for the first time on record, temperatures in the UK hit her 40°C.
Across southern Europe, heat wave conditions recorded days of extreme heat stress. Temperatures ranged from 38°C to 46°C (100 to 115°F).
High temperatures and long hours of sunshine have caused surface ozone concentrations to reach potentially harmful levels over much of Europe. Average sea surface temperature in Europe’s oceans was the warmest on record in 2022, with nearly three-quarters of her lakes warmer than average.
Unprecedented high temperatures and low rainfall (10% less than average) led to widespread drought, resulting in Europe’s second lowest river runoff and the second largest area burned by wildfires in Europe.
Cold climates were also affected. An unusually hot summer combined with a lack of snow has led to record melting of Alpine glaciers, losing more than 5 cubic kilometers of ice.
It’s a similar story in the Arctic, with data showing 2022 to be the sixth hottest year on record, with the Svalbard region experiencing the hottest summer on record, with temperatures up to 2.5°C above average in some areas. I got taller. Meanwhile, Greenland experienced an unusual heat wave in September that caused record ice sheet melt.
Over both the Arctic and Europe, atmospheric circulation patterns played a key role in producing the 2022 extremes, with stable anticyclonic conditions over western Europe producing warm, dry, and sunny conditions. By autumn, a series of atmospheric “rivers” brought warmth and humidity to his September Greenland.
“All findings are consistent with climate warming due to the heating effect of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Richard Allen of the University of Reading, UK. “Lands warm faster than oceans, but this only explains part of the excessive warming seen in Europe in recent years compared to other continents.”
According to Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, other factors include warming of the Arctic and the loss of ice and snow in the mountains of Europe, where the sun is reflected in space. The amount of energy is decreasing.
An El Niño climate pattern is expected to arrive later this year and could lead to extreme global warming, but it is relatively weakly associated with European climate and will not necessarily increase European temperatures. yeah.
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