Last decade was warmest on record in Europe

European temperatures in the last decade were 1.3 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average – the warmest since records began – according to new research by the European Environment Agency (EEA), the EU’s climate advisory body.
Their report finds that since 2002, rainfall has decreased in southern Europe, while increasing in the north, and there have been more extreme weather events.

Meanwhile, the Greenland ice sheet, Arctic sea ice and many European glaciers are melting.

“Climate change is a reality around the world, and the extent and speed of change is becoming ever more evident,” said Jacqueline McGlade, the EEA’s executive director.