Continent set for further drought in 2023, scientists say, as unstoppable impacts of climate crisis mount
People in southern Europe endured 70-100 days of heat stress, where the temperature felt like at least 32C, accounting for wind and other factors. In the UK,The heat, plus low rainfall, caused drought that affected more than a third of the continent at its peak, the report said, making it the driest year on record. Flows in almost two-thirds of Europe’s rivers were lower than average.
Overall, Europe experienced its second-warmest year ever recorded, with temperatures rising at twice the global average rate –. Over the past five years, the average temperature has been 2.2C higher than in the pre-industrial era. One bright spot in the report was that Europe received its highest amount of solar radiation in 40 years, owing to lower cloud cover, enabling above-average levels of solar-power generation.“The findings are frightening, I have to say, but I think we have to know the truth,” said Mauro Facchini, head of earth observation at the European Commission. “We have more and more extreme events happening in Europe. Every one of us can witness that.
Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S, said: “We are really moving into an uncharted territory.” The report should be seen as “yet another wake-up call to accelerate our efforts” to cut carbon emissions, which also hit record levels in 2022, he said. Scientists recently predicted that the imminentDr Rebecca Emerton, the lead author of the C3S report, said: “We cannot stop these climate impacts – we can only limit [them] by reducing greenhouse gas emissions rapidly.
She said a dry winter and spring in 2023 meant more drought was on the way. “Unfortunately, the impacts are probably already in place for the growing season, so we’re likely to see reduced crop production this year,” she said. Without global heating, droughts such as theProf Daniela Schmidt, at the University of Bristol, UK, said: “We are clearly not prepared for droughts like we have seen in the last year, given the losses in agriculture, scorched plants and fish in dwindling rivers.