Severe Climate Events Impact Europe as Temperatures Continue to Rise
The latest climate report has highlighted alarming statistics: severe storms and flooding events in Europe affected approximately 413,000 people in 2024, tragically claiming 335 lives. Wildfires, meanwhile, impacted around 42,000 individuals. The financial damage from these natural disasters surpassed €18 billion, serving as a stark reminder that climate change carries both a human and economic cost.
The European State of the Climate report—jointly produced by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service—emphasizes that Europe is currently warming faster than any other continent on Earth. Carlo Buontempo, Director of the EU Copernicus Climate Change Service, stated:
“2024 was the warmest year on record for Europe. We observed the longest heatwave in southeastern Europe and record glacier mass loss in Scandinavia and Svalbard. But 2024 was also a year of marked climate contrasts between eastern and western Europe.”
This escalating temperature trend poses enormous risks to our societies, economies, and environment. The report warns clearly that with every small increase in temperatures, these risks become significantly more severe.
Contrasting Climate Conditions Across Europe
While climate extremes impacted all of Europe, the continent experienced notable differences between its eastern and western regions. Eastern Europe generally saw sunnier and hotter conditions, whereas western countries experienced cloudier and notably wetter weather. Significantly, southeastern Europe endured its longest recorded heatwave yet.
Experts caution that achieving global warming of 1.5°C could lead to approximately 30,000 annual heat-related deaths in Europe. Southeastern Europe, in particular, faces the highest and fastest-increasing health risks due to heatwaves.
Wildfire Incidents Reach Unprecedented Levels
In a startling example last September, Portugal faced intense wildfires that ravaged approximately 110,000 hectares of land within just one week—equivalent to about a quarter of Europe’s yearly total burned area, concentrated into a startlingly brief timeframe.
Increasing Heat Stress and Warming Seas
The frequency of days categorized with ‘strong’, ‘very strong’, and ‘extreme heat stress’ in 2024 reached the second-highest levels ever recorded. Remarkably, 60% of Europe saw more than the long-term average count of heat-stress days, heightening both individual and societal risks.
Moreover, the continued warming of the oceans is clearly measurable. Sea-surface temperatures within the European region reached record highs, and the Mediterranean Sea specifically recorded temperatures 1.2°C above its historical average. European lakes also saw unprecedented warmth.
Flooding Threats and Decreasing Cold Conditions
Western Europe faced one of its ten rainiest years, experiencing the continent’s most extensive flooding events since 2013. Nearly a third of Europe’s rivers exceeded “high flood” thresholds, and projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest that Europe will continue to see a significant increase in flood risk.
Meanwhile, colder conditions continued to recede: 2024 set a record low for the number of ‘cold stress days,’ while regions experiencing freezing temperatures continued to shrink.
Accelerated Ice Loss in Northern Europe
Scandinavian and Svalbard glaciers underwent dramatic mass reduction, reporting their largest annual losses on record—indeed, they experienced the greatest ice loss of any global glacier regions in 2024. This serves as compelling evidence of the rapidity and scale of Europe’s climate change challenge.
Renewable Energy Offers Hope Amidst Crisis
On a brighter note, renewable energy reached a milestone in 2024, accounting for a record 45% of Europe’s electricity generation. This shift signals critical progress towards a more sustainable future.
A Clear Call to Better Utilize Climate Data
Given these alarming trends, experts stress the necessity of actively incorporating climate science into decision-making processes across all societal levels. As Carlo Buontempo emphasizes:
“The European State of the Climate is a treasure trove of quality information about our changing climate. Learning how to use climate data and information to inform our decisions should become a priority for all of us.”
A Decade of Hot Records
The last ten years were collectively the hottest decade ever observed, underscoring Europe’s rapid warming—twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s. Contributing factors to the continent’s accelerated climate change include its substantial Arctic territories—currently the fastest-warming region on Earth—and the frequency of intense summer heatwaves.
Edited By Ali Musa
Axadle Times International–Monitoring.
