The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released a report stating that temperatures in Europe have more than doubled the global average over the past 30 years. It is reported by The Guardian.
Over the past 30 years, from 1991 to 2021, temperatures in Europe have risen by an average of about 0.5 degrees per decade. As a result, the thickness of the ice of the Alpine glaciers decreased by 30 meters, at the same time the Greenland ice sheet melted, and the sea level rose. In the summer of 2021, the highest point in Greenland, the Upper Camp, recorded rain for the first time in history. People have died because of the extreme weather. In 2021 alone, floods, storms, wildfires and other disasters directly affected more than 500,000 people and resulted in hundreds of deaths. The economic damage in this case exceeded 50 billion dollars.
According to WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas, this trend will continue, and there will be more weather disasters. Precipitation will be less and less, leading to devastating droughts, which will be replaced by downpours and floods (this will be the case in all regions except the Mediterranean).
There are several reasons why Europe has warmed faster than other parts of the world. There is a high percentage of land, which warms up faster than the sea. A significant part of Europe is located in the northern latitudes, and the Arctic is the fastest warming region on record.