A joint report issued by the World Meteorological Organization and scientists from the European Union confirmed that Europe experienced its hottest summer on record last year, which led to many fatalities. The report, published today, indicated that extreme heat waves resulted in an additional 16,000 deaths in Europe last year.
Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, stated, "Unfortunately, we cannot consider this the only time" we will experience such a heat wave. He added, "According to our current understanding of the climate system and its evolution, such events are part of a pattern that will make severe heat stress more frequent and intense throughout the region."
Scientists also warned that the world will witness record-breaking temperature increases in the future due to global warming resulting from climate change, along with a closer proximity to the El Niño phenomenon. They explained that the reason Europe is experiencing the highest temperature increases among continents is that a large part of it lies in the Arctic and subarctic regions, which are the two areas experiencing the fastest rates of temperature rise on Earth, in addition to the effects of climate change.
