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According to climate change scientists at Copernicus, last year was one of the three warmest ever recorded in Europe, ending a record six-year period. Although the shutdowns of economies caused by the pandemic have reduced the European Union’s emissions by almost a tenth, they have not prevented a general increase in man-made greenhouse gases. The Upper North is experiencing the sharpest change.
“The Arctic stands out from all regions,” said Freja Vamborg, one of the scientists who wrote Europe’s annual climate report, released Thursday. “The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world, as is Europe.”
Frozen Arctic ecosystems are beginning to melt. Last year, temperatures in the Siberian Arctic reached 4.3 degrees Celsius above historical averages, causing the ice and permafrost to melt. From space, it was possible to see giant fires ravaging ancient boreal forests.
“Part of that process is irreversible,” said Mark Parrington, a Copernicus scientist who studies fire emissions. “Those fires released carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that was trapped for thousands of years.”
The images from space were captured by the ESA satellite.
© Scanpix / Reuters
Emissions are closely monitored by Copernicus, which uses billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft, and weather stations around the world to make monthly and seasonal forecasts. Stopping the build-up of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere is key to limiting global average temperatures to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
This objective has become a key element of the European Green Deal and the Pandemic Recovery Program.
“Achieving a climate neutral economy requires mobilizing society, governments and industry,” said a statement by Matthias Petschke of the European Commission.
Copernicus estimates that global emissions fell 8% last year due to the economic downturn. And it would have dropped even further if people who work from home didn’t burn as much natural gas and oil to heat themselves, says Vincent-Henri Peuch, head of Copernicus’ atmospheric monitoring service.
Abnormally high temperatures and extreme weather have increased the burden on some key sectors of the European economy. Farmers in France and some parts of Central Europe have been struggling for years with drier than usual conditions that have reduced crop yields. Energy traders have tried unsuccessfully to identify new weather patterns, resulting in billions of euros in lost revenue.
Fires in Siberia / Sentinel photo of Copernicus.
© ESA
Those periods of hot, dry weather were mixed with rains, three times the monthly averages that caused devastating flooding in some regions. Storm Alex broke a one-day rainfall record in the UK, north-western France and the southern Alps in October. The rare tropical cyclone Medicane Lanos, which swept through Greece in September, claimed four lives and left some 100 million. damage dollars.
A warmer climate also promises potentially more damaging changes to Earth systems. Melting ice and glaciers on the shelf are causing sea level rise and threatening coastal economies around the world. The oceans approach some of the shores of Europe by almost half a centimeter per year. He had to launch a new satellite to monitor the rising waters.
“It is now more important than ever to use the information available and take action to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and redouble efforts to reduce future risks,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus.
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