The hot weather “baked” her Europe with more days extreme heat stress in 2023, than scientists have ever recorded, according to the Guardian.
Heat-trapping, atmosphere-clogging pollutants helped to push Europe’s temperatures in 2023 to the highest or second-highest levels on record, according to the EU’s Earth Observatory Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Europeans suffer from unprecedented heat during the day, but also from high temperatures at night.
Deaths from extreme heat have increased by 30% in 20 years
The rate of deaths from heat has increased by 30% in Europe in two decades, according to the joint report of the two organizations on the state of the climate.
“The cost of climate action may seem high,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, “but the cost of inaction is much higher.”
The report found that temperatures across Europe were above average for 11 months of 2023, including the warmest September on record.
The hot and dry weather fueled large fires that destroyed villages and spewed smoke that choked distant cities.
The fires that firefighters battled were particularly fierce in drought-stricken southern countries such as Portugal, Spain and Italy.
Greece was hit by the biggest fire on record in the EU, which burned 96,000 hectares of land, according to the report.
Heavy rains also led to deadly floods.
According to the report, in 2023 Europe was around 7% wetter than the three-decade average and a third of its river network exceeded the “high” flood limit.
One sixth reached “severe” levels.
“In 2023, Europe witnessed the largest fire on record, one of the wettest years, severe marine heatwaves and widespread catastrophic flooding,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Agency.
“The temperatures continue to grow, making our data increasingly vital to prepare for its impacts climate change“.
The role of global warming in increasingly heavy rainfall is not always clear.
Warmer air can hold more moisture, allowing for more extreme storms, but complex climate changes mean water isn’t always available to fall.
But for heatwaves, the connection is much stronger.
The report did not provide figures for the number of heat deaths in 2023, but scientists have estimated the number of deaths in 2022 in 70,000 additional deaths.
The number of heat-related deaths in 2023 is likely to be higher, said Friederike Otto, a climatologist at Imperial College of London, which did not participate in the exhibition.
“For many of these deaths, the additional heat caused by fossil fuel emissions would be the difference between life and death,” he noted.
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