Europe, which is in the throes of a record heat wave this week, is the world’s fastest-warming continent and lies in an even faster-warming Arctic.
After record high temperatures for May were broken in Britain, Ireland and France on Monday and Tuesday, the continent still faces more brutal heat in the coming days.
A so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high pressure system over western Europe is behind the kind of heat usually not seen until high summer.
Here’s a look at why Europe is warming faster than anywhere else:
A higher degree
The planet is about 1.4 C warmer than in pre-industrial times, defined as 1850-1900.
By comparison, Europe is about 2.4 times warmer than the pre-industrial era, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
“Almost all of this heat is driven by the human-induced greenhouse effect from fossil fuel emissions, with the actual distribution of this excess heat determined by (several) factors,” said Ben Clarke, a researcher in extreme weather and climate change at Imperial College London. AFP.
Changing weather patterns
Changes in atmospheric circulation have caused more frequent and more intense heat waves in the European summer, according to Copernicus.
High-pressure systems, which bring calm weather and higher temperatures, have become more common in Europe, Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo said.
“If you look over the last 20, 30 years, there has been a prevalence, especially in the summer, of those kinds of anticyclonic conditions that make heat waves more likely,” said Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo. AFP.
Whether the increased frequency of that specific type of high-pressure system is due to climate change or is just a “statistical fluctuation” is still a scientific debate, Buontempo said.
Such high pressure systems are also known as “locking highs” as they can stand still and stop other weather systems from moving into a region.
Explaining how they work, Mary Bourke, professor of geography at Trinity College Dublin, said AFP: “The sky is exposed to us, there are no clouds. It is a stable air mass that brings warm air down to the surface and removes moist air, so the air is not only warm, but dry.”
The Arctic is warming rapidly
Another major reason is geography.
“Europe is connected to the Arctic, which is warming much faster than the rest of the planet,” Clarke said.
The Arctic is 3.2C warmer than in pre-industrial times, according to Copernicus.
The region’s rising temperatures are due in part to a process known as albedo feedback.
Shiny snow and ice reflect most of the sun’s heat back into space, but as they melt they reveal darker, heat-absorbing surfaces like land and ocean.
“So as the sea ice melts, it leads to more heat absorption, which in turn warms the waters further and melts more ice,” Clarke said.
Snow melting
In other parts of Europe, the area where snow was very frequent in winter has shrunk, Buontempo said.
“We have many of the historic regions that have had a week or more of freezing conditions now, not having that. And that means exposing dark ground instead of white snow,” he said.
Decrease in air pollution
Stricter air quality regulations have reduced aerosol emissions since the 1980s.
But fighting the pollutant had the side effect of contributing to global warming, as these tiny airborne particles have a cooling effect by reflecting sunlight and making clouds more reflective.
“While reducing air pollution is extremely important for respiratory health, it also increases solar radiation at the surface, as many types of particles deflect sunlight,” Clarke said.
Different scales
The rate of temperature change varies across Europe.
Eastern and southeastern Europe, and parts of central Europe, including the Alps, have warmed by 0.5C-1C per decade over the past 30 years, according to Copernicus.
Western and southwestern Europe, and sub-Arctic Finland, Norway and Sweden, warmed by 0.2C-0.5C per decade.
Svalbard, a Norwegian Arctic archipelago that is home to polar bears, has reached 1.5C-2C warming per decade.
One of the fastest warming places on Earth, Svalbard had record high summer temperatures from 2022 to 2024. Last year it saw the fourth warmest summer on record.
(sma)
