Europe’s summer of floods and fire was its hottest on record
They are the main findings of the fifth European State of the Climate report, published Friday, which found the summer of 2021 was 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than the 1991-2020 average. The average air temperature in Europe has risen about 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to the report. The continent set a provisional, blistering new heat record last summer of 48.8 degrees Celsius on the Italian island of Sicily. Previously, the hottest day recorded in Europe was 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit) in 1977 in Athens, Greece, according to the report by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Parts of the Mediterranean were hit with an intense, weeks-long heat wave in July and August, with Italy, Turkey and Greece experiencing several destructive wildfires. More than 800,000 hectares were burned during those two months. “With the changing climate, temperatures are getting warmer and warmer in the Med...