Facts

• According to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), temperatures in Europe have increased more than twice the global average in the last three decades. The effects of the climbing temperatures have translated to droughts, wildfires, and ice melt episodes occurring across the continent.^[1]
• The report comes just before the UN climate summit [COP27] begins in Egypt. A strong message is likely to be delivered about how off-track the world is on its climate goals and how temperatures are already soaring above predictions.^[2]
• To avoid severe impacts of global climate change, scientists have warned that temperatures should be held to 1.5°C above those in the industrial revolution. Data shows that temperatures have already risen to +1.2°C.^[2]
• WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas said, "Europe presents a live picture of a warming world and reminds us that even well prepared societies are not safe from impacts of extreme weather events." His comments come on the heels of a European summer of extremes with record-breaking heatwaves, melting glaciers, and marine warming in the Mediterranean.^[3]
• Despite the climate mitigation efforts put in place by European leaders, the report pointed out that the extreme weather events led to "hundreds of fatalities" and affected more than 500K throughout the continent with an estimated $50B in economic losses.^[4]
• As leaders prepare for the annual UN climate conference, the head of Copernicus's European Centre of Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Carlo Buontempo said, "European society is vulnerable to climate variability and change...but Europe is also at the forefront of the international effort to mitigate climate change..."^[5]