Impacts of Europe’s Changing Climate

EEA Report

On September 29 the European Environment Agency (EEA) published a report on the 'Impacts of Europe's Changing Climate', in cooperation with the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC-IES) and the World Health Organisation Europe (WHO).

According to this report, European countries and the Mediterranean area appear to suffer from the effects of climate change worse than other regions.
It was already known that temperate areas are very likely to be the most vulnerable, but alarming proofs have been provided by the outcomes of the new surveys, which have been carried out both through satellites and on ground.
In the last century temperature increase in Europe (1.2 °C) has been higher than the global average (1.0 °C) and projections show further increases, again higher than the average rate of other regions.
As a consequence the sea level will continue to rise and due to ocean circulation and gravity effects its increase will not be uniform across European seas, where levels are expected to be higher than in the rest of the planet.
Other adverse effects will be the increase in the frequency of hot extremes, storms and cyclones, the intrusion of sea water in freshwater acquifers and changes in the distribution of terrestrial and marine species (that will in turn affect economic activities such as fishery, for example).

The report presents past and projected climate changes and impacts in Europe in the following categories: atmosphere and climate, cryosphere, marine biodiversity and ecosystems, water quantity, freshwater quality and biodiversity, terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity, soil, agriculture and forestry, human health. Moreover, the report stresses the need for enhanced monitoring and data collection and exchange, for adaptation actions at EU, national and regional level, and  for a reduction of the uncertainties that can currently be found in projections.

For more information and to download the pdf version of the report, please visit

http://reports.eea.europa.eu/eea_report_2008_4/en