Climate change is causing Europe to heat up more quickly than any other continent – and twice as fast as the global average – with recent studies warning of mounting threats to food, water and energy security, human health, the economy and nature. What makes the continent more vulnerable than others?
The latest five-year averages show that temperatures in Europe are now running 2.3C above pre-industrial levels, compared to 1.3C globally.
Even in the best-case scenario, the European Commission warned that Europe would "have to learn to live with a climate that is 3 degrees warmer".
With its developed infrastructure and resources, Europe may be better equipped to adapt to climate change compared to more vulnerable regions, but it still faces unprecedented uphill challenges.
In its first-ever European Climate Risk Assessment, the European Environment Agency (EEA) warned the continent was ill prepared for rapidly growing climate risks – extreme heat, drought, wildfires and flooding – that will affect the living conditions of millions.
Climate hotspots
“Europe faces urgent climate risks that are growing faster than our societal preparedness,” EEA executive director Leena Ylä-Mononen said when the analysis was published in March, urging governments to get cracking on course-correction policies.
Scientists speculate that Europe is warming more rapidly because of its proximity to the Arctic, where climate impacts are more keenly felt, and because of warmer ocean and atmospheric currents.
All parts of Europe will warm by more than 2C regardless of future emissions cuts – while some regions have been identified as hotspots for multiple climate risks.
Low-lying coastal regions – including many densely populated cities – face flooding, erosion and saltwater intrusion threats, while southern Europe is at particular risk from wildfires and impacts of heat and water scarcity on agricultural production.
The EEA found that many of these risks have already reached critical levels and could become catastrophic without urgent action.
Separate analysis published this week by Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service and the United Nations said the number of heat-related deaths in Europe had increased by at least 30 percent over the past two decades.
The average sea surface temperature for the ocean across Europe, meanwhile, was the highest on record in 2023. In June of that year, the Atlantic Ocean west of Ireland and around the United Kingdom was impacted by an extreme marine heatwave.
Agriculture challenge
Climate shocks in Europe are happening despite ambitious legislation the European Union hopes will establish it as a global leader on climate.
Set in 2021, the goal to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by the end of the decade is a binding commitment under the EU’s Climate Law – which also commits to achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
While Europe is making progress in some areas – with more energy generated from renewables than from fossil fuels for a second year running – farmer protests have seen a rollback of rules aimed at cutting emissions from agriculture.
It promises to be a hot-button issue at Europe’s parliamentary elections in June as conservative parties champion the cause of farmers who say the climate measures are not being backed up with support for those working in the sector.
Reducing agricultural pollution “should be a priority” to increase Europe’s resilience to climate change, the EEA found in its assessment.
Taking decisive action after the elections, it said, would be critical.
