Europe just had the warmest October on record

By Mauro Mereu

Why we write about this topic:

While the discussions are coming to an end at the Climate Change Conference – COP 27 – data keep stressing the need for climate action.

Last October was Europe’s warmest on record, shows Copernicus Climate Change Service – C3S – data. The institute – funded by the European Commission on behalf of the EU – reported temperatures nearly 2°C above the 1991-2020 reference period.

C3S publishes a monthly bulletin on the changes observed in global surface air temperature, sea ice cover, and hydrological values. Findings are based on computer-generated analysis based using satellites, ships, aircraft, and weather station data from all over the world.

Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S stated: “The severe consequences of climate change are very visible today, and we need ambitious climate action at COP27 to ensure emissions reduction to stabilize temperatures close to the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees.”

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Ongoing COP 27

As the Climate Change Conference – COP 27 – being held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, is ending on Friday, C3S findings place Europe as the fastest-warming region of the world. “That’s because of the warming in the Arctic, which has a big impact on the northern part of Europe. And then globally, the second most rapidly warming region is the Mediterranean region,” told Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization to Euronews.

Climate finance, adaptation ambition, and implementation are central to COP27’s discussions. Specifically, adaptation is one of the main points of the talks. A recently issued report by the United Nations Environment Programme found that the world will need over $300 billion – over €288 billion – a year to deal with climate crisis effects. Europe’s rising temperatures are one of the major issues.