To date, July 22, 2024, was the warmest day ever recorded on Earth, according to data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
What’s more, over the last few decades, Europe has been warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, according to C3S director Carlo Buontempo.
This is due to a combination of different factors, he said. One of them is that the Arctic, part of which is included in the institute’s definition of Europe, is probably one of the fastest warming regions in the world.
Another reason is the loss of ice and snow in the mountains, as well as on the plain of Central Europe.
Heatwaves in Europe are already more frequent, more intense and will last longer than before. “So this is something we need to get used to,” Buontempo said.
Extreme weather events in Europe intensify
Across the continent, heatwaves and subsequent fires are endangering people, their livelihoods, animals and crops, often leaving a trail of damage worth millions of euros.
At the end of July, all Spanish regions except the Canary Islands were on “orange alert,” with warnings that maximum temperatures will reach 39-40 degrees Celsius, according to the Spanish meteorological agency Aemet.
At the same time, a heatwave sent thermometers in the south of France into overdrive.
French weather service Météo-France stated that in large parts of southern France, “the heat is set to intensify considerably,” and the 40-degree mark could be exceeded in some regions.
Paris is currently hosting the Olympic Games, with venues spread across the country.
On Monday, the Paris region announced the activation of the heatwave plan in the Île-de-France region, where “air quality will be poor” according to the Airparif observatory.
The regional plan includes the distribution of more than 2.5 million water bottles on public transport and “almost 200,000 hats, fans and water bottles” to Olympic spectators.
While northern Italy has been hit with storms and torrential rain, causing floods and landslides in recent weeks, the southern part is facing a major drought.
Last week, the National Association of the Agricultural Water Board (ANBI) warned that in three weeks’ time “there will be no water for agriculture” in central and southern Italy.
Protests are growing in Sicily over poor water supply. The drought has led to a 60% decrease of water reservoirs, leading local authorities to ration water in Sicily’s main city Palermo, as well as in 50 other municipalities.
Slovenia was hit by major floods last year, causing billions of euros in damage, with reconstruction still under way. This summer, heavy rain again caused some floods and landslides in the most affected regions.
However, lack of rainfall led to a forest fire in the south-western Kras region in mid-July, the same area that was hit by the most devastating blazes in Slovenia’s history in 2022.
EU Civil Protection Mechanism gears up for summer
The European Commission is expecting another summer of extreme weather phenomena, EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said, with southern Europe facing high temperatures, and central and northern Europe confronting days of heavy rainfall.
While civil protection is a national competence, domestic authorities can request support through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in case of emergencies.
All 27 EU member states – and ten non-members – take part in the mechanism created in 2001. The EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre helps deal with assistance requests.
For this summer, the EU has set up a special fleet of 28 firefighting planes and four helicopters in 10 member states.
The commission has also earmarked €600 million ($649 million) of EU funds for the acquisition of 12 more aircraft, which will be shared between six countries in the bloc.
Greece on fire and Balkans blaze
In Bulgaria also, high temperatures led to fires. In July, more than 1,430 people participated in extinguishing fires across the country.
Spain, France and the Czech Republic provided support to Bulgaria through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
North Macedonia requested urgent help fighting severe wildfires, with Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, Croatia and Romania coming to their aid. Between January and June, the country faced 73 wildfires.
Last year, North Macedonia counted 170 forest fires according to Kire Mihailov, deputy head of the National Forests public enterprise.
In July, neighbouring Albania experienced a heatwave and battled wildfires in the south of the country – receiving aid from Greece under the EU scheme.
Greece itself is also facing fires. Its second-largest island, Evia, has been battling a wildfire since Monday with hundreds of firefighters on location.
“We still have a very difficult month ahead of us, the month of August, and obviously we all need to be absolutely alert,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday.
Warnings of premature deaths
If measures against climate change are not taken, the World Health Organization estimates that between 2030 and 2050, an additional 250,000 premature deaths per year are possible due to extreme weather events, poor air quality, food insecurity and infectious diseases.
Heatwaves are the deadliest meteorological phenomenon associated with climate change, causing 489,000 deaths per year, according to World Meteorological Organization estimates.
The actual mortality related to extreme weather events could be 30 times higher, the WMO fears, as many countries lack reliable data.
Climate change is also making work more difficult and dangerous for billions of people, the International Labour Organization has warned.
While in Europe and Central Asia the proportion of people exposed to excessive heat at work is low by global standards, it has increased more than in any other region over the past 20 years, the ILO said.
The content of this article is based on reporting by AFP, AGERPRES, BTA, dpa, EFE, LUSA and STA, as part of the European Newsroom (enr) project.
