Record-breaking heat, heavy showers and devastating fires passed in review last year. A look back.

Today is the last day of the year; a good moment to look back. And 2021 was – among many other things – a year of weather extremes. Driven by climate change, we had to endure a lot of bizarre weather and climate events. And they also had major consequences for people, the economy and the environment.

Seven warmest years

The combined effects of natural climate variability and climate change unfolded before our eyes again in 2021. And despite the corona measures in the last two years, the last seven years are on track to become the seven warmest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization. A cooling La Niña had only a short-lived and minor effect on global temperatures. But unfortunately it couldn’t drown out the warming we caused.

Record-breaking heat

And we knew that last year was warm. In Canada, a country where the mercury rarely exceeds 25 degrees Celsius, temperatures as high as 50 degrees were recorded. It led to hundreds of heat deaths and devastating fires. The same region was subsequently hit by exceptional rainfall and flooding in November. Extreme temperatures were also seen in Death Valley, a desert valley in the American state of California. In July, during one of several heat waves in the southwestern United States, the temperature even reached 54.4 degrees Celsius. A month later it was the turn of the Mediterranean. The mercury rose on the Italian island of Sicily to a record-breaking 48.8 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature ever recorded on European territory. Major forest fires occurred in many parts of the Mediterranean, with Algeria, southern Turkey and Greece in particular hit hard.

Normal

In the Netherlands it was relatively easy in terms of temperatures. After five very warm years, 2021 was a fairly normal year in terms of temperature. The average temperature in 2021 was 10.4 degrees Celsius compared to ‘a normal’ average of 10.5 degrees Celsius in the past. Only last June peaked as the warmest June since 1901. The highest temperature of the year was measured in Hupsel on 17 June, 34.0 degrees Celsius. The rest of the summer was wet and increasingly cooler. The otherwise wet June was characterized by heavy thunderstorms. On June 18, Leersum in Utrecht was hit by a fall wind during a thunderstorm, resulting in extensive damage. Autumn was also warmer and drier than usual, especially in September. December was quite mild. Today a temperature of no less than 14.4 degrees was tapped in De Bilt.

Rainfall and floods

Several heavy showers were also reviewed last year. For example, in mid-July Western Europe experienced some of the worst flooding ever. On 14 and 15 July, up to 150mm of rain fell in some parts of Germany and Belgium, causing flooding, landslides and more than 200 deaths. But it wasn’t just in Europe that it was wet. Sustained and above-average rainfall in the first half of the year in parts of South America – particularly the northern Amazon basin – led to significant and prolonged flooding in the region. The Rio Negro, the main tributary on the north side of the Amazon, even reached its highest level ever. In addition, extreme rainfall hit China’s Henan province, where 201.9mm of rain fell in one hour in the city of Zhengzhou on July 20, a Chinese national record.

Meanwhile in the Netherlands

It was also hit in the Netherlands. From 13 to 15 July, there was an extreme amount of rain in the south of Limburg, which led to major flooding. The KNMI issued a code orange and even code red on 14 July. It was the first time that the KNMI issued a code red for heavy precipitation.

Drought

Although it was raining on one side of the world, other areas suffered severe droughts. Much of subtropical South America experienced extremely dry conditions for the second year in a row. Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina were the hardest hit. In addition, it contributed to humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa, among others.

Technology

However, last year we also learned that we can rely on technology. Improved early warning systems have significantly reduced the number of people killed by extreme weather. In addition, supercomputers and satellite technologies helped us better predict and monitor many of the extreme weather events.

However, there is still work to be done. Because especially in the least developed countries and small island states, the meteorological observation networks do not work optimally. The Systematic Observing Financing Facility (SOFF) has therefore set itself the goal of improving these networks and filling the major gaps in fundamental weather and climate data. Because they are of great importance for good weather forecasts and effective mitigation in the coming year.