Temperatures in Europe increase more than twice global average says a latest WMO Report

The State of the Climate in Europe 2021 report, the first of this kind for Europe, is one of a series of regional reports compiled by World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in order to provide localized scientific information to policy makers. It was presented at a regional conference of directors of European national meteorological and hydrological services on November 2nd, 2022.

The report and an accompanying story-map, issued just ahead of the annual UN Climate Change negotiations (COP27), include inputs from national meteorological and hydrological services, climate experts, regional bodies and UN partner agencies.

It presents an overview of the climate in the region as well as major climate drivers, highlighted some of the extreme events that occurred in 2021 and the impacts on various sectors including health, transport, agriculture as well as displacement and migration.

A wide range of extreme events occurred in 2021 including cold spells, floods, storms, drought and dry spells impacting lives and livelihoods. The report highlighted that temperatures in Europe have increase by more than twice the global average in the past 30 years and that 2021 was one of the worst years for wildfires in the region since 2000, second only to 2017 and up to 25% of lands destroyed by wildfires was agricultural lands.

In terms of the agriculture sector the report highlights that “climate variability and change are expected to have a significant impact on global agriculture. Increasing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns can have adverse impacts on the agriculture sector". 

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), negative impacts on crop production including shortening of harvest periods and delays in planting seasons have been experienced in Europe due to adverse weather events.

Climate change leads to economic impacts which translate into loss of livelihoods, reduced agricultural production and productivity, adverse effects on food availability and food access, and loss of income, which can contribute to food insecurity as well as leading to hunger and malnutrition, and to food insecurity by extension.

Climate change is changing the distribution, incidence and intensity of animal and plant pests and diseases. In 2021, Italian Locust (CIT) hatching and hopper development continued in Georgia, while CIT breeding continued in the Caucasus and the Russian Federation, and Asian Migratory Locust (LMI) mating and egg-laying continued in the Russian Federation. In total, control operations in 2021 in the Caucasus and Central Asian countries reached around 1.9 million ha by July, which is similar to 2020.”

Early actions are the most cost-effective measures to prevent and reduce devastating and long-lasting impacts of climate change on our agrifood systems and Europe is one of the world leaders in providing effective early warning systems, with about 75% of people protected.