Wednesday, August 19th 2026
The whole world is facing rising temperatures as pollution from the burning of fossil fuels traps more and more heat in the atmosphere, according to an article in The Guardian. But Europe is warming almost twice as fast as other continents, with increasingly severe consequences. This summer alone, heat waves have caused tens of thousands of deaths.
Why is Europe being affected more by global warming?
The land is warming faster than the large, deep oceans, so all continents are experiencing faster temperature increases than the seas. But Europe is particularly exposed for four main reasons: changing atmospheric patterns, proximity to the Arctic, less snow and less air pollution.
As a result, Europe is now about 2.5°C warmer than it was before the mass burning of fossil fuels, while the global increase is about 1.4°C.
Since the mid-1990s, temperatures in Europe have risen by about 0.56°C every year. decade, compared to 0.42°C in North America, 0.36°C in Africa and 0.27°C in South America.
The Arctic is the fastest warming region on the planet. The polar ice, which normally reflects most of the sun’s rays, is melting rapidly.
When the ice disappears, the dark surface of the ocean remains exposed and absorbs much more heat. This leads to even greater melting of the ice and creates a self-reinforcing cycle of warming.
With a significant part of Europe relatively close to the Arctic, this factor also affects the pace of the continent’s warming.
The lack of snow is also accelerating the warming
In the past, much of Europe was regularly covered in snow during the winter. Like Arctic ice, snow reflects sunlight and helps keep temperatures lower.
But climate change is reducing snow-covered areas. The lost surface area is approximately as much as the territory of France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria together.
Decreasing air pollution in Europe is undoubtedly a positive development for people’s health. But the cleaner air is simultaneously removing a “mask” that until now had partially mitigated the effect of greenhouse gases.
Pollution particles can reflect the sun’s rays or help form clouds, preventing some of the heat from reaching the Earth’s surface. When these particles are reduced, more radiation reaches the earth and the warming effect of greenhouse gases becomes more pronounced.
Rapid warming is bringing more casualties from extreme temperatures, more intense fires and more severe droughts. At the same time, storms, extreme rainfall and flooding are being fueled by the extra heat accumulated in the climate system.
The consequences affect the lives and economies of millions of people across the continent and are expected to worsen until emissions reach net zero.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell summed up the situation at the end of July.
“The terrible costs of this climate crisis, as human, as well as economic. They are already reaching the proportions of a national emergency.”
According to him, the solution is clear: “To move away from coal, oil and gas faster, to expand the use of renewable energies and to protect people.”
Source: prizrenpost
