The year 2026 is likely to become the second-warmest on record globally, as indicated by various analyses.
In Europe, last winter was among the coldest in recent times, but temperatures have been recovering. March was the continent’s second-warmest on record.
Wednesday’s report highlighted 2025 as Europe’s worst wildfire season, regarding land burnt and the emissions from these fires.
Sea temperatures near Europe set records for the fourth year in a row. Last year was also one of the driest since the early 1990s. Europe’s glaciers decreased in mass, with the Greenland ice sheet reducing by 139 gigatons, likened to “losing 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools every hour,” according to Burgess.
On the whole, Europe has warmed around 2.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times, heating faster than the global average of 1.4 C due to geography, changing weather patterns, cleaner air, and reduced snow cover.
The report noted a decline in areas experiencing winter freezing temperatures in Europe due to climate change.
“The worrying fact that Europe is warming twice as fast as other continents requires action,” said Dušan Chrenek, a senior European Commission climate official, on Monday. “We must drive transformational change to better prepare Europe for and enhance its resilience to climate impacts.”
Leave a Reply