Europe temperatures rising at more than twice global average, warns UN

Temperatures inEuropehave increased atmorethantwicetheglobalaverageover the past three decades, showing the fastestriseof any continent on earth, theUNsaid Wednesday.

The European region has onaverageseen temperaturesrise0.5 degrees Celsius each decade since 1991, theUN's World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service found in a joint report.

As a result, Alpine glaciers lost 30 metres (just under 100 feet) in ice thickness between 1997 and 2021, while the Greenland ice sheet is swiftly melting and contributing to accelerating sea levelrise.

Last year, Greenland experienced melting and the first-ever recorded rainfall at its highest point. The report further cautioned that regardless of future levels ofglobalwarming, temperatures would likely continue toriseacrossEuropeat a rate exceedingglobalmean temperaturechanges.

"Europepresents a live picture of a warming world and reminds us that even well-prepared societies are not safe from impacts of extreme weather events," WMO chief Petteri Taalas said in a statement.

WMO splits the world into six regions, with the European region covering 50 countries and including half of the swiftly warming Arctic, which is not a continent in its own right.

Within Antarctica -- which is a continent but falls outside the six WMO-defined regions -- only the West Antarctic Peninsula part is seeing rapid warming.

'Vulnerable'

The new report released ahead of theUN's 27th conference on climate set to open in Egypt on Sunday, examined the situation inEuropeup to and including 2021.

It found that last year, high-impact weather and climate events -- mainly floods and storms -- led to hundreds of deaths, directly affectedmorethanhalf a million people and caused economic damage acrossEuropeexceeding $50 billion.

At the same time, the report highlighted some positives, including the success of many European countries in slashing greenhouse gas emissions.

Across the EU, such emissions decreased by nearly a third between 1990 and 2020, and the bloc has set a net 55-per cent reduction target for 2030.

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Europeis also one of the most advanced regions when it comes to cross-border cooperation towards climate change adaptation, the report said.

It also hailedEurope's world-leading deployment of early warning systems, providing protection for about 75 percent of the population, and said its heat-health action plans had saved many lives.

"European society is vulnerable to climate variability and change," saidCarlo Buontempo, head of Copernicus's European Centre of Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

"ButEuropeis also at the forefront of the international effort to mitigate climate change and to develop innovative solutions to adapt to the new climate Europeans will have to live with."

Health concerns

Yet, the continent is facing formidable challenges.

"This year, like 2021, large parts ofEuropehave been affected by extensive heatwaves and drought, fuelling wildfires," Taalas said, also decrying "death and devastation" from last year's "exceptional floods".

And going forward, the report cautioned that regardless of the greenhouse gas emissions scenario, "the frequency and intensity of hot extremes... are projected to keep increasing."

This is concerning, the report warned, given that the deadliest extreme climate events inEuropeare heatwaves, especially in the west and south of the continent.

"The combination of climate change, urbanisation and population ageing in the region creates, and will further exacerbate, vulnerability to heat," the report said.

The shifting climate is also spurring other health concerns.

It has already begun altering the production and distribution of pollens and spores, which appear to be leading to increases in various allergies.

Whilemorethan24 per cent of adults living in the European region suffer from such allergies, including severe asthma, the proportion among children is 30-40 per cent and rising, it said.

The warming climate is also causingmorevector-borne diseases, with ticks moving into new areas bringing Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis.

Asian tiger mosquitos are also moving further north, carrying the risk of Zika, dengue and chikungunya, the report said.

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