Europe climate report signals rising extremes

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LONDON: The 2025 European State of the Climate report reveals that Europe remains the fastest-warming continent, heating at twice the global average rate. This rapid warming has triggered unprecedented environmental shifts, including a historic heatwave across Nordic countries where temperatures reached 30°C within the Arctic Circle. 

Nations like Britain, Norway, and Iceland all recorded their warmest years on record. These rising extremes are causing a severe decline in Europe’s ice and snow cover. 

Glaciers across the continent suffered net mass losses, with the Greenland Ice Sheet losing approximately 139 billion tonnes of ice, a rate equivalent to 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools every hour.

Additionally, annual sea surface temperatures hit record highs for the fourth consecutive year, leading to ‘strong’ marine heatwaves across 86% of the European ocean region.

The report also highlights a record-breaking wildfire season, which consumed over one million hectares of land. While renewable energy reached a record 46.4% of Europe’s power generation, officials stress that the transition away from fossil fuels must accelerate.

With the predicted return of the El Niño phenomenon, researchers warn that the region must urgently adapt to a future defined by more frequent and severe climate extremes.

Photo Credits: AFP