Stormy forecast for Europe

More frequent and more financially devastating storms, floods and droughts. Wetter conditions in northern Europe but drier weather in the south that could threaten agriculture. Rising sea levels. More frequent and deadly heatwaves. The disappearance of three-quarters of the glaciers in the Swiss Alps by 2050.

These are among the effects of climate change that have happened or are forecast to happen in Europe as global temperatures rise, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency, Impacts of Climate Change in Europe: An Indicator-based Assessment.

“This publication pulls together a wealth of evidence that climate change is already happening and having widespread impacts, many of them with substantial economic costs, on people and ecosystems across Europe,” said EEA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade.

She added: “Europe has to continue leading worldwide efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but this report also underlines that strategies are needed, at European but especially at the national and local levels, for adapting to climate change. This is a phenomenon that will considerably affect our societies and environments for decades and centuries to come.” Meanwhile, the latest estimates compiled by the EEA show that the states of the EU trimmed their greenhouse gas emissions by 0.5 percent in 2002 compared with a year earlier.

EU-15 greenhouse gas emissions compared with the Kyoto target