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In 2023, an increase in heavy rainfall led to catastrophic floods in Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Norway and Sweden, while southern Europe suffered widespread drought. On Monday, the European State of the Climate (ESOTC) released a new report looking back on the past year, finding that temperatures in Europe are rising at twice the global average, with the frequency and intensity of such extreme events escalating.
the analysisconducted by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) for the European Commission and Assembly and production The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has provided a detailed look at the alarming climate changes seen across the continent. The 2023 bushfire season saw 5,000 square kilometers burned (the same area as London, Paris and Berlin combined), according to the report; Greece suffered the largest forest fire (July-August 2023) ever recorded in the European Union, affecting 960 square kilometres.
Parts of southern Europe experienced between 60 and 80 days of “Strong heat stress“, while parts of southern and eastern Spain, southwestern France, southeastern Italy, southern Sardinia, Greece and western Turkey were exposed to 10 days of “extreme heat stress.” In contrast, many regions in northern Europe witnessed days of “extreme cold stress” in 2023. .
“Some of the events of 2023 took the scientific community by surprise because of their intensity, speed of occurrence, extent and duration,” said Carlo Bontempo, director of the C3S Centre.
According to the report, extreme heat was the main cause of the weather and climate
Deaths in Europe since 1970. While an estimate for 2023 is not yet available, heat-related deaths in Europe have increased by about 30 percent in the past 20 years. Deaths resulting from heat waves were estimated at between 55,000 and 72,000 during the summers of 2003, 2010 and 2022, with the heat affecting
Health is more pronounced in cities and the elderly and outdoor workers are particularly at risk.
