The summer of 2022, marked by several heat waves and a severe drought linked to global warming, was the hottest recorded in Europe, the European climate change service Copernicus announced on Thursday September 8.
Average temperatures were “the highest, both for the month of August and the whole summer”, exceeding for the three months (from June to August) by 0.4 ° C those of 2021, previous record, said Copernicus in a press release. They have been “about 1.34°C above the 1991-2020 average for the season”, adds Copernicus. For the month of August alone, temperatures were “by far the highest” recorded, “1.72°C above the 1991-2020 average”.
August #Temperature highlights from #CopernicusClimate Change Service:
Last month was:
????Globally 0.3°C warmer than… https://t.co/zyQtSML1m7
unusual drought
In the press release, Freja Vamborg, scientific manager of the European institute, explains:
“An intense series of heat waves across Europe, coupled with unusual dry conditions, has led to a summer of extremes, with record high temperatures, droughts and fires. »
“Drought and fires in many parts of Europe have affected society and nature in various ways,” she noted, recalling that “the previous record was only a year old”.
Western regions of Canada and the United States also experienced temperatures “exceptionally high”, emphasizes Copernicus. Antarctica has seen regions of significantly above and below average temperatures spread across and around the continent, “as is often the case”says Copernicus.