\n<\/p>\n
The State of the Climate in Europe report, produced jointly with the European Union\u2019s Copernicus Climate Change Service, focused on 2021.<\/p>\n
It provides information on rising temperatures, land and marine heatwaves, extreme weather, changing precipitation patterns, and retreating ice and snow.<\/p>\n
The report says that between 1991 and 2021, temperatures in Europe warmed significantly, at an average rate of about +0.5 \u00b0C per decade<\/strong>. As a result, Alpine glaciers lost 30 metres in ice thickness from 1997 to 2021<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Greenland ice sheet is melting and contributing to accelerating sea level rise. In summer 2021, Greenland saw a melt event and the first ever recorded rainfall at its highest point, Summit station.<\/p>\n In 2021, high impact weather and climate events led to hundreds of fatalities<\/strong>, directly affected more than half a million people and caused economic damages exceeding $50 billion. About 84 per cent of the events were floods or storms.<\/p>\n As the climate continues to change, European people’s health is expected to be impacted in many ways, including death and illness from increasingly frequent extreme weather events.<\/p>\n Increases in zoonoses, where diseases are transmitted to humans from animals, are also expected along with food, water and vector-borne diseases, and a rising incidence of mental health disorders.<\/p>\n The deadliest extreme climate events in Europe come in the form of heatwaves<\/strong>, particularly in western and southern countries.<\/p>\n The combination of climate change, urbanization and population ageing in the region creates, and will further exacerbate, vulnerability to heat.<\/p>\n However, the report indicates that it\u2019s not all bad news. A number of countries in Europe have been very successful<\/strong> in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, in the European Union (EU) greenhouse gas emissions decreased 31 per cent between 1990 and 2020, with a net 55 per cent reduction target for 2030.<\/p>\n Europe is also one of the most advanced regions in cross-border cooperation in climate change adaptation, in particular across transnational river basins.<\/p>\n It is one of the world leaders in providing effective early warning systems, with about 75 per cent of people protected<\/strong>. Heat-health action plans have saved many lives from extreme heat.<\/p>\nDeadly heat<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Success stories<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018Live picture of a warming world\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n