The Year of Extreme Heat in Europe Comes to an End

The year 2022 was marked by extreme weather conditions around the world, from drought in Europe to floods in Pakistan. This was due to a rapid change in the climate, which was fueled by a relentless increase in the concentration of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.
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The year ended as the world’s fifth-warmest on record, with Europe heating up faster than anywhere else, according to new research published Tuesday. The continent experienced its second-warmest year on record and its hottest summer ever, fueling wildfires, ruining crops, hampering trade and leading to higher than normal deaths even in some of the world’s wealthiest nations.
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"These events underscore the urgent need for society to both reduce carbon emissions and adapt to the changing climate," said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. "Avoiding the worst consequences of our warming world will require swift and decisive action."
Last year was the hottest on record for most of Western Europe.
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The extreme heat over the summer led to at least 20,000 excess deaths in France, Germany, Spain and the UK alone. Drought upended agricultural production, while low water levels in European rivers disrupted the transport of goods in the Rhine River, western Europe’s most important waterway. These climate-fueled events worsened an energy and inflation crisis that has made it harder for families to heat their homes and pay for essential goods.
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The Copernicus research is the first in a series of annual reports from top climate and weather agencies. The scientific data is expected to match predictions made by the World Meteorological Organization last November that 2022 would be the fifth or sixth hottest year ever.
According to Copernicus, average temperatures globally were 1.2C higher last year than during re-industrial times. This is a cause for concern, as it happened during the second consecutive year of La Niña weather conditions, which typically help keep temperatures low.
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2022 was a year of extreme weather, with record-high temperatures, floods and fires. This led to widespread damage and loss of life, as well as displacement of many people.
"If we didn't have the underlying warming trend, we wouldn't expect to see record years during La Niña," she said. "Because we have the underlying warming trend, the variations given by La Niña and El Niño years are superimposed on this."
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In 2022, high temperatures and low rainfall led to widespread drought in Europe, the US, Asia and Africa. Temperatures in Europe have increased by more than twice the global average over the past three decades, according to Copernicus.
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The hot weather made the Earth's ice sheets melt even faster, which is a problem because those ice sheets store huge amounts of fresh water. They also help keep the planet's atmosphere cool.
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According to a new report, parts of northern and central Siberia, as well as the Antarctic Peninsula, have seen temperatures more than 2 degrees Celsius above the average between 1991 and 2020. In September, temperatures over the center of Greenland - home to the Arctic ice sheet - were 8 degrees Celsius higher than the average of the past three decades.
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The Antarctic sea ice extent was unusually low in February 2022, reaching its lowest extent in 44 years of satellite records. Six other months saw the Antarctic sea ice extent at record or near record-lows.
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Although the complete collapse of the ice sheets is still many years away, scientists believe that if all the glaciers melted, global sea levels would rise by around 70 meters (230 feet). Currently, sea-level rise is occurring more quickly than it has for at least 3,000 years, resulting in increased erosion of coastlines and the displacement of people living in low-lying areas.
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The flooding in Pakistan was one of the worst disasters of the year. La Niña conditions and climate change made the record-breaking rainfall even worse, causing widespread destruction and loss of life. Estimates say that at least $16.3 billion is needed to rebuild houses and farms and to help people who were impacted by the floods.
According to Copernicus' observations, the hottest years on record globally are 2016, 2020, 2019, and 2017.