Latest news with #FlorenceRabier
Zawya
16-04-2025
- Climate
- Zawya
Amid EU climate shift, cities face more floods, extreme heat
Brussels: No other continent is warming as quickly as Europe. The European State of the Climate 2024 report, released Tuesday, shows that the continent broke countless temperature records last year, with extreme weather upending the lives of nearly half a million people. The report, put together by around 100 researchers from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organisation, shows that the average temperature across Europe has increased by roughly 2.4 degrees Celsius (4.3 Fahrenheit) since the Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th century. Except for Iceland, where it was cooler than average, the entire continent saw above-average temperatures. Globally, the average temperature has increased by 1.3 Celsius, making 2024 the warmest since weather records began. 'Ocean temperatures were exceptionally high, sea levels continued to rise, ice sheets and glaciers continued to melt,' said Samantha Burgess, one of the report's lead authors, speaking with reporters. 'All this as atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continued to increase, reaching record levels again in 2024. Since the 1980s, Europe has been warming at twice the global average rate,' she added. Floods, extreme heat endangering people, cities The record temperatures had wide-ranging consequences in 2024. 'It's not just a global average temperature number. It really has an impact at the regional and local scale,' said Florence Rabier, the director-general of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which contributes to Copernicus. Whether by floods, heat waves, storms or drought, the lives of Europe's roughly 750 million people are being increasingly shaped by extreme weather — fuelled by human-caused climate change. Major flooding in Spain's Valencia region last October and November killed more than 220 people. The amount of heavy rain, which smashed all previous records in only a few hours, left behind destroyed homes, cars and infrastructure, with the Spanish government so far pledging €16 billion ($18 billion) in reconstruction aid and compensation. Just one month earlier, persistent rainfall from Storm Boris caused extensive flooding in towns and cities in eight countries in Central and Eastern Europe. An estimated 413,000 people were affected across Europe last year due to floods and storms, with some 335 losing their lives. At the same time, Europe sweltered through the second-highest number of days with extreme heat stress ever recorded. Eastern Europe, in particular, was especially hot and dry, and Southern Europe saw lengthy droughts, even in the winter months. Europe — and especially cities — need to adapt to changing climate 'Every additional fraction of a degree of temperature rise matters, because it accentuates the risks to our lives, to economies and to the planet,' said Celeste Saulo, the head of the World Meteorological Organisation. 'Adaptation is a must.' Despite the worrying weather trends, global planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase. But Tuesday's report does highlight one glimmer of good news: in 2024, renewable energy production in Europe hit a new high, with some 45% of energy coming from climate-friendly sources like solar, wind and biomass. But when it comes to living with the increasing risk of extreme weather and heat stress, the report warned that European countries needed to strengthen early warning systems and climate adaptation measures — as soon as possible. According to Burgess, long-term global warming over 1.5 degrees Celsius could contribute to at least 30,000 additional deaths in Europe due to extreme heat by 2100. Researchers noted that just over half of European cities have now adopted dedicated climate adaptation plans to confront extreme weather and protect their citizens — up from 26% just seven years ago. Paris, Milan, Glasgow and cities in the Netherlands are leading the way. Among other initiatives, city leaders are creating facilities to protect people from extreme heat, expanding green spaces to help cool urban areas and building out flood protection measures. © Muscat Media Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Times of Oman
15-04-2025
- Climate
- Times of Oman
Amid EU climate shift, cities face more floods, extreme heat
Brussels: No other continent is warming as quickly as Europe. The European State of the Climate 2024 report, released Tuesday, shows that the continent broke countless temperature records last year, with extreme weather upending the lives of nearly half a million people. The report, put together by around 100 researchers from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organisation, shows that the average temperature across Europe has increased by roughly 2.4 degrees Celsius (4.3 Fahrenheit) since the Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th century. Except for Iceland, where it was cooler than average, the entire continent saw above-average temperatures. Globally, the average temperature has increased by 1.3 Celsius, making 2024 the warmest since weather records began. 'Ocean temperatures were exceptionally high, sea levels continued to rise, ice sheets and glaciers continued to melt,' said Samantha Burgess, one of the report's lead authors, speaking with reporters. 'All this as atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continued to increase, reaching record levels again in 2024. Since the 1980s, Europe has been warming at twice the global average rate,' she added. Floods, extreme heat endangering people, cities The record temperatures had wide-ranging consequences in 2024. 'It's not just a global average temperature number. It really has an impact at the regional and local scale,' said Florence Rabier, the director-general of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which contributes to Copernicus. Whether by floods, heat waves, storms or drought, the lives of Europe's roughly 750 million people are being increasingly shaped by extreme weather — fuelled by human-caused climate change. Major flooding in Spain's Valencia region last October and November killed more than 220 people. The amount of heavy rain, which smashed all previous records in only a few hours, left behind destroyed homes, cars and infrastructure, with the Spanish government so far pledging €16 billion ($18 billion) in reconstruction aid and compensation. Just one month earlier, persistent rainfall from Storm Boris caused extensive flooding in towns and cities in eight countries in Central and Eastern Europe. An estimated 413,000 people were affected across Europe last year due to floods and storms, with some 335 losing their lives. At the same time, Europe sweltered through the second-highest number of days with extreme heat stress ever recorded. Eastern Europe, in particular, was especially hot and dry, and Southern Europe saw lengthy droughts, even in the winter months. Europe — and especially cities — need to adapt to changing climate 'Every additional fraction of a degree of temperature rise matters, because it accentuates the risks to our lives, to economies and to the planet,' said Celeste Saulo, the head of the World Meteorological Organisation. 'Adaptation is a must.' Despite the worrying weather trends, global planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase. But Tuesday's report does highlight one glimmer of good news: in 2024, renewable energy production in Europe hit a new high, with some 45% of energy coming from climate-friendly sources like solar, wind and biomass. But when it comes to living with the increasing risk of extreme weather and heat stress, the report warned that European countries needed to strengthen early warning systems and climate adaptation measures — as soon as possible. According to Burgess, long-term global warming over 1.5 degrees Celsius could contribute to at least 30,000 additional deaths in Europe due to extreme heat by 2100. Researchers noted that just over half of European cities have now adopted dedicated climate adaptation plans to confront extreme weather and protect their citizens — up from 26% just seven years ago.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Europe is fastest-warming continent in world, UN-led report finds
Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world as countries were hit by clear climate change impacts, extreme weather and record temperatures in 2024, a major annual report shows. Around 100 scientists and experts contributed to the UN-led European State of the Climate 2024, which found that last year was the warmest on record for the continent. Storms were often severe and flooding was the most widespread since 2013, claiming at least 335 lives and affecting around 413,000 people, according to the paper, which was released by the UN World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) on Tuesday. There was a striking east-west contrast in climate conditions, with extremely dry and warm conditions in the east compared to warm but wet conditions in the west, the experts said. They found that Europe is one of the regions with the largest projected increase in flood risk, and a global warming of 1.5C could result in 30,000 annual deaths in Europe due to extreme heat. WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo said: 'This report highlights that Europe is the fastest-warming continent and is experiencing serious impacts from extreme weather and climate change. 'Every additional fraction of a degree of temperature rise matters because it accentuates the risks to our lives, to economies and to the planet.' According to the paper, 30% of the European river network exceeded the 'high' flood threshold during the year and 12% exceeded the 'severe' flood threshold. The findings also showed record-high annual temperatures in almost half of the continent, and record-high sea surface temperature in the region, with 0.7C above average. The average temperature increase was particularly steep for the Mediterranean Sea, at 1.2C above average. Elsewhere, the numbers of days with 'strong', 'very strong' and 'extreme heat stress' were found to all be the second highest on record. In September, fires in Portugal burned around 110,000 hectares in one week, representing around a quarter of Europe's total annual burnt area, while an estimated 42,000 people were affected by wildfires in Europe, according to the findings. But for cold extremes, there was a record low number of days with at least a 'strong cold stress'. The area of European land that experienced fewer than three months (90 days) of frost days was also found to be the largest on record. And all European regions saw a loss of ice, with glaciers in Scandinavia and Svalbard seeing their highest rates of mass loss on record, the experts said. In general, Central Europe is one of the regions in the world where glaciers are shrinking the fastest as the UN calls for the preservation of glaciers in 2025. The report also looked at renewable energy progress, finding clean electricity generation reached a record high in 2024, compared to the previous record of 43% in 2023, reflecting Europe's decarbonisation efforts. Florence Rabier, director-general at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which implements the C3S, said: 'The 2024 report reveals that almost one third of the river network exceeded the high flood threshold, and heat stress continues to increase in Europe, highlighting the importance of building greater resilience. 'With 51% of European cities now having a dedicated climate adaptation plan, this underscores the value of our information, which is rooted in scientific excellence, to better support decision-making around climate adaptation.' Ms Saulo said: 'Adaptation is a must. WMO and its partners are therefore intensifying efforts to strengthen early warning systems and climate services to help decision-makers and society at large to be more resilient. 'We are making progress but need to go further and need to go faster, and we need to go together.'
