This is revealed in a new report from the World Meteorological Organization. The explanation for why Europe is heating up faster is not complicated: – The reason is that this is where the large land masses are located, so that the land areas are kept “cool” by the sea to a lesser extent, says Tore Furevik, professor of climate dynamics at the University of Bergen. Land areas heat up faster than ocean areas. And the further north on the globe, the faster the temperature increases. – The ocean requires a lot of energy to heat up. In addition, a lot of energy will go into evaporating water instead of heating it. Ocean areas warm up much more slowly than land areas, says Furevik. So far, the sea surface in the world has become approximately 1.0 degrees warmer, and the land areas approximately 1.7 degrees warmer. – The greatest warming has been in the northern hemisphere, where it has so far become 1.9 degrees warmer. Svalbard is warming up the fastest in the world Svalbard is the place in the world where the temperature is increasing the most. This was also emphasized by climate minister Espen Barth Eide when he presented the government’s plan to deal with the consequences of climate change last week. – Message number 1 is that the point on the globe of land that heats up the fastest is in Norway. And it is located on Svalbard. – We are very much affected by the climate crisis. The further north in Norway, the more we are affected, said Barth Eide. The reason is that Svalbard lies exactly on the border between where there is sea ice and where there is open water, and here the temperature differences are particularly large, especially in winter, says Furevik. – Warmer air and warmer water have led to the ice retreating northwards and eastwards, so that Svalbard has “come out of” the ice. If you look at the data, you can see that the temperature in Longyearbyen on Svalbard has risen by just under 3 degrees in the summer and as much as 9 degrees in the winter, says Furevik. 2022 was a dramatic year for the glaciers in the Alps. Photo: World Meteorological Organization Furevik explains that the melting of snow and ice in the north gives an additional warming effect in that less sunlight is reflected, and instead warms the ground and water. – A similar effect can also be seen in the high mountains, for example in the Alps where the glaciers retreated more in 2022 than ever previously measured, he says. Furevik’s conclusion is: It is to be expected that all land areas will heat up faster than the global average since more than 70 percent of the planet is covered by water. It is to be expected that Europe will warm up even faster than the average over land, since Europe is far to the north. Tore Furevik, director of the Nansen Center and professor at the University of Bergen. Photo: Sindre Skrede / news 2.3 degrees Celsius warmer in Europe The year 2022 was characterized by extreme heat, drought and forest fires. The sea surface temperature around Europe reached new heights, we are also seeing that this year. The North Atlantic last weekend was almost 1.09 degrees Celsius above average. The report shows that Europe has warmed twice as much as the global average since the 1980s. In 2022, Europe was about 2.3 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. It shows that Europe has warmed twice as much as the global average. – The areas around the Mediterranean are one of the areas in the world where climate change leads to the greatest reduction in rainfall. This results in dryness, less water that can evaporate, and thus extra heating in the summer. Which we have seen a lot of in Europe in recent summers, and which has led to fires and destroyed crops, says Furevik. 16,000 deaths related to heat waves According to the report from the World Meteorological Organization, 16,000 people lost their lives due to heat waves last year. It is the extreme weather event that claimed the most lives. – In 2022, many countries in Western and South-Western Europe had their hottest year ever recorded. The high temperatures exacerbated the severe and widespread drought conditions, led to violent forest fires and led to thousands of heat-related deaths, says one of the authors, Professor Petteri Taalas. Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom all had their warmest year on record. Hope in the report Furevik is clear on what is the only way to change the serious development: Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to zero as soon as possible. But the report also contains uplifting facts: For the first time, renewable energy generated more electricity than fossil energy last year. Wind and solar energy accounted for 22.3 percent of the EU’s electricity in 2022, according to the report. – It is pleasing to see that the development of renewable energy continues unabated, and that for the first time more electricity was produced from renewable sources than from fossil sources in Europe. Together with strong investment in renewable energy sources in other large economies such as the USA and China, there is a basis for a certain optimism going forward, says Furevik.
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That is why Europe and Norway are heating up faster than anywhere else – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
