Records and extremes are more than ever the norm in a warming world. Last year Europe experienced its hottest summer on record, with intense heat waves, devastating fires, but also dramatic flooding. This is what comes out of it Report on the state of the climate in Europe in 2021 published by the European Copernicus Climate Change Monitoring Service, Friday, April 22, on the occasion of Earth Day.
Copernicus, whose data, collected since 1950, is used by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to prepare its annual report, confirms that the past seven years have been the warmest on record globally, ranking at 6 in 2021.and or at the 7and square. This situation is all the more exceptional because the past year was marked by two episodes of La Nina, a phenomenon that causes the global temperature of the planet to drop. In total, the Earth has already warmed by 1.1 to 1.2 °C since the pre-industrial era, and the European continent by 2°C, due to record levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, due to human activities and in particular the combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas).
Extreme Events
Despite the long-term trend of warming, the Old Continent still had a contrasting year 2021. Although it was not among the ten warmest years, sea surface temperatures in much of the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas were still the highest in almost twenty years. . In June and July, parts of the Baltic Sea were even more than 5°C above normal.
The European spring was cooler than average, with parts of Europe starting early, followed by a late frost, affecting agriculture.
On the other hand, summer turned out to be one of all extremes. At 1°C higher than the 1991-2020 average, it was characterized by “record temperatures, intense and prolonged heat waves and exceptional flooding”, says Freja Vamborg, report coordinator and senior scientist at the Copernicus service. The Mediterranean region in particular was hit by an intense and prolonged heat wave in July-August. Many temperature records were broken, including the European record of 48.8°C in Sicily, a figure that has yet to be confirmed by the WMO. The heat wave lasted two to three weeks in parts of Italy, Greece and Turkey. This persistent heat and significant drought have led to severe forest fires, especially in Italy, Greece and Turkey. In July and August, for example, more than 800,000 hectares went up in smoke around the Mediterranean Sea.
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