Berlin, April 22 (BNA): Last summer was the hottest on record in Europe, with temperatures a full degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average in the previous three decades, scientists said.
A report released Friday by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service found that while spring 2021 was cooler than average, the summer months were marked by “extreme and prolonged heat waves” that saw several new temperature records, including 48.8°C. An unprecedented (119.8)F) was measured in Sicily last August, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Prolonged temperatures have contributed to wildfires such as those in Siberia, Greece and Turkey last year, and experts say they have increased the likelihood of torrential rains of the kind that led to deadly floods in Belgium and Germany in July.
Sea surface temperatures last year were higher than at any time since at least 1992 in the eastern Mediterranean and parts of the Baltic, where mercury rose more than 5°C (9°F) above average during the summer months.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service said annual wind speeds in parts of western and central Europe were among the lowest since at least 1979. This has led to a decrease in the estimated potential of wind energy – one of the main sources of renewable energy on which European countries depend to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation.
The agency’s findings are based on ground-based weather stations and satellite observations dating back to 1950.
Globally, the report showed that 2021 was ranked between the seventh and fifth warmest years, depending on the dataset used.
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