In 2022, Europe experienced the second warmest year and warmest summer on record. This emerges from the report "State of the European Climate 2022", which was published by the EU institution Copernicus. Temperatures in Europe are rising twice as fast as the global average, faster than on any other continent. Droughts and long-lasting heat waves hit large parts of Europe. A record loss of glacial ice has been recorded in the European Alps. In 2022, the global annual mean values for the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane reached the highest values ever measured by satellites.
Heat waves, droughts and extreme weather events: climate change is also becoming increasingly noticeable in Europe. The new report by the EU institution Copernicus, the central earth observation component of the EU space program, provides an overview of current climatic developments in Europe. Based on data from satellites and measuring stations and with the participation of numerous European weather services and other research institutions, the report shows which climatic conditions will shape Europe in 2022.
Hottest summer in Europe
According to this, 2022 was the second warmest year in Europe since records began, only surpassed by 2020. The average summer temperatures were 0.3 to 0.4 degrees Celsius higher than those of 2021, which was previously considered the year with the hottest summer. The measurement data shows that temperatures in Europe are rising faster than on any other continent. While global average temperatures over the last five years are around 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, they have already risen by 2.2 degrees Celsius in Europe and by as much as three degrees Celsius in the European Arctic.
"The current warming is in the upper range of the climate projections," classifies the climatologist Karsten Friedrich from the German Weather Service in Offenbach. “An increase in mean temperature is always associated with an increase in extremely high temperatures. As a result, heat waves like in recent years will occur repeatedly and more intensely.” In 2022 there were heat waves in large parts of Europe. In July, temperatures even in Great Britain reached 40 degrees Celsius for the first time since records began.
drought and glacier melt
During the summer months, the combination of heat and low rainfall led to severe drought in most European countries. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that in winter 2021/2022 there were up to 30 fewer days of snow than average in some areas. "Many large European rivers such as the Po, Rhine and Rhone depend on the meltwater from the Alps," explains Friedrich. “The lack of water in the Po has caused an extreme drought in northern Italy, as a result of which agriculture has suffered severe losses. But shipping on the Rhine was also affected again.”
For the Alps, the report records a record loss of glacier ice: more than five cubic kilometers of glacier ice have melted. The European Arctic was also severely affected by the high temperatures. In September, temperatures in Greenland were up to eight degrees Celsius above average and instead of snow, which is usual for this month, rain fell. This led to a strong melt of the ice, which in the meantime affected at least 23 percent of the ice sheet.
(Video: Copernicus ECMWF)
Greenhouse gas peaks
With an annual average concentration of 417 parts per million (ppm), the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere reached the highest value ever measured by satellites in 2022. The methane content also reached a new high of 1894 ppm. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is essential to mitigating the worst impacts of climate change," says Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
In 2022, Europe also recorded the highest insolation in 40 years, in line with an increasing trend observed over the past few decades. Accordingly, the potential generation of electricity from photovoltaic systems was above average in most parts of the continent. Regarding wind energy, the report notes that the wind speed in mainland Europe in 2022 was in line with the average for the last 30 years. However, in many parts of western, central and north-eastern Europe it was slightly below average, meaning that the power generation potential from onshore wind was below average. "Understanding and responding to the changes and variability in renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar, is critical to supporting the energy transition toward net-zero emissions," says Burgess. "Accurate and timely data improves the sustainability of this energy transition."
Source: State of the European Climate 2022Copernicus Climate Change Service