Copernicus CCS - 2022 Hottest Summer On Record For Europe; 1.44F Higher Than 2018 Prior Record
Amid blistering heat waves, brutal drought and widespread wildfires, Europe just notched its hottest summer in recorded history, new data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service shows.
It was the second historic summer in a row for the continent, with average temperatures 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.72 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the previous record set just last year, Copernicus announced Thursday. August was especially scorching, surpassing the 2018 record by a whopping 0.8 degrees Celsius (1.44 degrees Fahrenheit). In a statement, Copernicus senior scientist Freja Vamborg described the past three months as “a summer of extremes.”
The combination of record temperatures and extraordinarily dry conditions fueled by climate change wreaked havoc across the continent, she said. Officials have attributed thousands of deaths to the long stretches of oppressively hot weather. Crops withered and forests turned brown and barren, as Western Europe was gripped by the worst drought in centuries. Wildfires raged from the Caucasus Mountains to the Atlantic coast, with flames consuming roughly 50 percent more land than the previous record set in 2017.
The historic season was made worse by human-caused warming, scientists say. One recent analysis found that the burning of fossil fuels and other carbon-emitting activities made a July heat wave in Britain 10 times as likely. Other research shows that the climate-driven cycle of hot weather and dry landscapes can lead to the formation of “heat domes” that deflect rainy weather and force the continent to bake beneath inescapable sunshine and heat. “We expect these kinds of hot extremes to become more frequent and severe because of climate change,” Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus service, wrote in an email. “Trends in this direction are clearly visible in the observational records.”
EDIT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/08/europe-record-hot-summer-extreme-heat/
