{"id":37310,"date":"2025-08-16T16:44:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T14:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/?p=37310"},"modified":"2025-08-16T16:45:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T14:45:50","slug":"europe-in-2024-a-year-of-unprecedented-climate-disasters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/2025\/08\/16\/europe-in-2024-a-year-of-unprecedented-climate-disasters\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe in 2024: A year of unprecedented climate disasters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The year 2024 has become a chilling testament to Europe&#039;s intensifying climate change, bringing increasingly extreme and devastating anomalies. The region as a whole has experienced <strong>the warmest year in recorded history<\/strong>, with widespread and often fatal impacts affecting<!--more--> millions of people across the continent. Climate statistics reveal alarming trends in temperatures, precipitation, humidity and even critical permafrost ecosystems [WMO 2025a, WMO 2025b].<\/p>\n<p><strong>Global warning signs affecting Europe:<\/strong> European lakes and their surface water temperatures (LSWT) were global record-breakers. The average LSWT for Europe reached an anomaly <strong>+0.77 \u00b0C above the reference average<\/strong>, which is <strong>the largest anomaly since records began in 1995<\/strong>Shocking <strong>86 % European lakes<\/strong> showed positive LSWT anomalies. The total column water vapor (TCWV) over Europe also reached <strong>extremely positive anomalies<\/strong>, ranging between 15 % and 20 % above normal, indicating a significantly wetter atmosphere that may lead to more intense precipitation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Europe on the Brink: Devastating Regional Events:<\/strong> While total annual precipitation in Europe appeared to be close to normal, this figure masks <strong>devastating regional extremes<\/strong> [WMO 2025a].<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Western Europe<\/strong> experienced <strong>fourth warmest year<\/strong> and was generally wetter. Belgium and Luxembourg experienced <strong>the wettest year in history<\/strong>, with the total reaching 140 % above normal in Uccle (Belgium) and 143 % above normal in Findel (Luxembourg) [WMO 2025a, 474]. In October, they fell in southeastern France (Cevennes) <strong>record 48-hour rainfall totals<\/strong> (200\u2013400 mm, in places 500\u2013600 mm), which is more than twice the monthly normal [WMO 2025b].<\/li>\n<li><strong>Central Europe<\/strong> suffered <strong>the warmest year in recorded history<\/strong> [WMO 2025a, 475], with the spring being the warmest in the region&#039;s history [WMO 2025b]. In September, it brought <strong>Storm Boris extreme rainfall and widespread flooding<\/strong> to Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, southern Poland and southeastern Germany, with totals of 200\u2013500 mm. This event was classified as <strong>100-year event<\/strong> [Magnusson et al. 2025, Kimutai et al. 2024, Gramlich 2024, Greilinger et al. 2024, Rustemeier et al. 2024, WMO 2025b, 471].<\/li>\n<li><strong>Iberian Peninsula<\/strong> was hit by repeated <strong>heat waves<\/strong> [WMO 2025b]. In Spain, October was <strong>record wet<\/strong> [WMO 2025b, 476], which culminated in <strong>catastrophic floods in Valencia on October 29<\/strong>The intensity of precipitation reached <strong>historical records<\/strong>: 184.6 mm in one hour, 620.6 mm in six hours and 720.4 mm in twelve hours. These floods required <strong>at least 224 victims<\/strong> and caused <strong>damage exceeding 13 billion euros<\/strong> [Kothari 2024, Pucik 2024, WMO 2025b].<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nordic and Baltic countries<\/strong> experienced <strong>the second wettest year<\/strong> in Denmark [WMO 2025b, 476], while storm Kirsti in late July brought to Latvia <strong>new national record for 24-hour rainfall<\/strong> (198.3 mm) [WMO 2025b].<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mediterranean region<\/strong> recorded <strong>the warmest year in history<\/strong>, with each country in the region (including Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, North Macedonia, Greece and Bulgaria) reaching its own historical maximum [WMO 2025a, WMO 2025b, 477]. The region was plagued by <strong>unusually long heat waves<\/strong>, and in late November and early December, the Bora storm over Greece caused <strong>heavy rainfall (up to 550 mm)<\/strong> and floods with two victims [WMO 2025b].<\/li>\n<li><strong>Eastern Europe<\/strong> broke its temperature records and recorded <strong>the warmest year in history<\/strong> [WMO 2025a, 478]. Anomalies in Belarus, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine exceeded +2 \u00b0C. Spring was the warmest on record. Ukraine experienced in April <strong>record rainfall<\/strong>, but then in May for the first time since 1961 <strong>no precipitation was recorded<\/strong> in many areas. Romania had <strong>fifth driest agricultural year<\/strong>, which led to widespread soil drought [WMO 2025b].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Permafrost on the verge of collapse:<\/strong> Permafrost temperatures reached 2024 in European mountains <strong>record high values at a depth of 10 meters<\/strong> [Noetzli et al. 2024a, WMO 2025b]. As a result of three consecutive exceptionally warm years and early snow cover in the winter of 2024, the active layer thickness (ALT) on the Swiss Schilthorn <strong>tripled to more than 13 meters<\/strong>. A worrying finding is that <strong>the ground did not freeze at all in the winter of 2024<\/strong> [Noetzli et al. 2024a, WMO 2025b].<\/p>\n<p>These large-scale and often deadly anomalies in 2024 are a clear signal that Europe is facing a new era of climate change, which is no longer a distant threat but a harsh reality with devastating consequences. <em><strong>JRi<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/ametsoc.net\/sotc2024\/SotC2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DOWNLOAD THE STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2024<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h5>Glossary of key terms<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cumulative Cyclone Energy (ACE):<\/strong> An integrated metric of the strength, frequency, and duration of tropical storms and hurricanes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Active layer (Permafrost):<\/strong> The layer of earth that thaws and freezes again every year is located above permafrost.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Antarctic ozone hole:<\/strong> An area in the stratosphere above Antarctica where there has been a significant loss of ozone.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Antarctic sea ice:<\/strong> The extent of sea ice in the Southern Ocean, around Antarctica.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Argo (data):<\/strong> A global system of free-floating probes that measure temperature and salinity in the oceans, providing data on ocean heat and salinity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Atmospheric aerosols:<\/strong> Tiny particles suspended in the atmosphere that affect climate by scattering and absorbing radiation and influencing clouds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC):<\/strong> Large-scale circulation in the stratosphere that transports air from the tropics to the polar regions, affecting the distribution of ozone.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Carbon Dioxide (CO2):<\/strong> The main long-lived greenhouse gas released by human activity, whose atmospheric concentrations continue to increase.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs):<\/strong> A group of chemicals regulated by the Montreal Protocol for their ozone-depleting properties and strong greenhouse effect.<\/li>\n<li><strong>El Ni\u00f1o Southern Oscillation (ENSO):<\/strong> A natural climate phenomenon that has a warm phase (El Ni\u00f1o) and a cold phase (La Ni\u00f1a) that affects global weather and climate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Equivalent temperature (Teq):<\/strong> A term that combines air temperature and humidity to provide a more comprehensive measure of the energy content of the atmosphere.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL):<\/strong> The average sea level around the world, which changes due to the thermal expansion of water and the melting of ice.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Global reference glaciers:<\/strong> Specific 58 glaciers around the world that are continuously monitored for changes in their mass balance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hydrological cycle:<\/strong> The continuous movement of water on, above and below the Earth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD):<\/strong> A natural climatic phenomenon characterized by fluctuations in sea surface temperature between the western and eastern Indian Oceans.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ):<\/strong> A band of low pressure surrounding the Earth near the equator where trade winds converge and produce intense precipitation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cryosphere:<\/strong> All parts of the Earth where water is in solid form, including glaciers, snow cover, and sea ice.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kuroshio Extension:<\/strong> An extension of the Kuroshio Current in East Asia, characterized by shifts in current anomalies and ocean heat content.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Long-lived greenhouse gases (LLGHG):<\/strong> Greenhouse gases that remain in the atmosphere for long periods of time (decades to centuries), such as CO2, CH4, and N2O.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO):<\/strong> The largest element of intraseasonal variability in tropical weather, manifesting as an eastward-directed area of increased precipitation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Major Development Area (MDR):<\/strong> An area in the Atlantic where tropical cyclones typically form.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Marine heat waves (MHW):<\/strong> Periods of five or more consecutive days with sea surface temperatures above the 90th percentile of the daily climatology.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mass Balance (glaciers):<\/strong> The difference between the amount of snow that accumulates on a glacier and the amount of ice that is lost from it through melting or breaking off.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Methane (CH4):<\/strong> A potent greenhouse gas released from natural and anthropogenic sources, the concentrations of which continue to rise.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Montreal Protocol:<\/strong> An international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of many substances responsible for damaging the ozone layer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nitrous Oxide (N2O):<\/strong> A long-lived greenhouse gas whose concentrations in the atmosphere continue to increase.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nighttime sea air temperature (NMAT):<\/strong> The temperature of the air just above the ocean surface at night, which serves as an important indicator of ocean warming.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ocean heat content (OHC):<\/strong> The amount of heat stored in the ocean, a key indicator of global warming.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Oceanic Ni\u00f1o Index (ONI):<\/strong> Three-month (seasonal) moving average of sea surface temperature anomalies in the Ni\u00f1o-3.4 region, used to classify El Ni\u00f1o and La Ni\u00f1a events.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ozone-depleting substances (ODS):<\/strong> Chemicals that damage the stratospheric ozone layer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Permafrost:<\/strong> Permafrost is soil or rock that remains at or below 0\u00b0C for at least two consecutive years.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Previous Rain Event (PRE):<\/strong> A band of intense rainfall that develops ahead of a tropical cyclone and can lead to widespread flooding.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Radiative Forcing (RF):<\/strong> The difference between solar energy absorbed by the Earth and the energy radiated back into space.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rock Glaciers:<\/strong> Landforms formed by the slow creep of permanently frozen soil (permafrost), the speed of which indicates changes in the thermal state of the permafrost.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Snow cover extent (SCE):<\/strong> The area of the Earth&#039;s surface covered with snow.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sea Surface Temperature (SST):<\/strong> The temperature of the water at the top of the ocean.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sea surface salinity (SSS):<\/strong> The concentration of dissolved salts in the surface waters of the ocean, influenced by the hydrological cycle.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Short-lived climatic factors (SLCF):<\/strong> Substances that have a lifespan of from a few hours to about two decades and affect the climate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Southern Annular Mode (SAM):<\/strong> The pattern of atmospheric pressure variability that affects the Southern Hemisphere.<\/li>\n<li><strong>South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ):<\/strong> A band of precipitation that extends from the western Pacific Ocean towards the southeast.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stratospheric aerosols:<\/strong> Aerosols present in the stratosphere, which can come from volcanic eruptions or forest fires and affect the radiation balance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stratospheric ozone:<\/strong> Most of the ozone in the Earth&#039;s atmosphere is found in the stratosphere and protects against harmful ultraviolet radiation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stratospheric temperature:<\/strong> The temperature in the stratosphere, which is affected by greenhouse gases and other atmospheric phenomena.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stratospheric water vapor (WV):<\/strong> Water vapor in the stratosphere, which can be influenced by volcanic eruptions and affects ozone chemistry and the radiation balance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tropical cyclones (TC):<\/strong> Rapidly rotating storms with an organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that form over tropical or subtropical waters.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tropospheric ozone:<\/strong> Ozone found in the troposphere, which acts as a greenhouse gas and air pollutant.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Total Column Water Vapor (TCWV):<\/strong> The total amount of water vapor in the atmospheric column, a key indicator of the hydrological cycle.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Vegetation Optical Depth (VOD):<\/strong> An indicator of vegetation density and structure that reflects changes in its health and growth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Vertical wind shear:<\/strong> The change in wind speed or direction with height in the atmosphere, which is an important factor in the development of tropical cyclones.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wet-Bulb Temperature (Tw):<\/strong> A measure of &quot;damp heat&quot; that combines air temperature and humidity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Western North Pacific (WNP) Basin:<\/strong> One of the most active areas in the world for tropical cyclones (typhoons).<\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The year 2024 has become a chilling testament to the intensification of climate change, bringing increasingly extreme and devastating anomalies. The region as a whole experienced its warmest year on record, with widespread and often deadly impacts hitting<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-klimaticka-zmena"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37310\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}