The Year That Seared Europe Ends as 5th Warmest on Record
From droughts and fires to floods, storms and record-high temperatures, climate change made 2022 a year of extremes, says the EU’s Earth observation agency.
Ruins of the Sant Roma church, exposed by low water levels in the Sau reservoir following drought, in Vilanova de Sau, Spain, on Aug. 20, 2022.
Photographer: Angel Garcia/BloombergFrom drought in Europe to floods in Pakistan and melting polar ice, a rapidly-changing climate made 2022 a year of new extremes fueled by a relentless increase in the concentration of heat-trapping gases, according to the EU agency that tracks changes to Earth’s atmosphere.
The year ended as the world’s fifth-warmest on record, with Europe heating up faster than anywhere else, it said in new research published Tuesday. The continent experienced its second-warmest year on record and its hottest summer ever, fueling wildfires, ruining crops, hampering trade and leading to higher than normal deaths even in some of the world’s wealthiest nations.