BERLIN (AP) — Scientists say last summer was the hottest summer on record in Europe, with temperatures a full 1.8 degrees higher than the average for the previous three decades.
A report released Friday by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service found that while spring 2021 was cooler than average, the summer months were marked by “severe and long-lasting heatwaves” that saw numerous new temperature records, including an unprecedented 119.8 measured in Sicily last August.
The prolonged high temperatures contributed to wildfires such as those seen in Siberia, Greece and Turkey last year, and experts say it increased the likelihood of heavy rainfall of the kind that led to deadly flooding in Belgium and Germany last July more likely.
Sea surface temperatures last year were higher than at any time since at least 1992 in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and parts of the Baltic Sea, where the mercury rose more than 9 degrees above average during the summer months.
Globally, the report showed that 2021 was ranked between the seventh and fifth warmest year on record, depending on the dataset used.s
