The temperatures across Europe have been soaring in July 2022. This has led to extreme danger alerts for wildfires in many European countries. Britain, France, Poland, Eastern Europe, Spain, Italy, and Germany have been reeling under severe heatwave as temperature in these places are hovering around 40 degrees Celsius. Heatwaves in Europe are increasing in frequency and intensity at a faster rate than almost any other part of the planet. Devastation due to extreme weather has been particularly acute in Western Europe, which has been hit by raging wildfires, drought, and hundreds of heat-related deaths. This is raising alarm for a looming climate emergency.
Though Europe has been witnessing hot summers in the recent past, rarely have temperatures risen so high across so many regions at the same time. Wildfires caused due to a combination of extreme heat and dry weather have destroyed about 19,000 hectares of forest in South-Western France. Many people had to be evacuated to temporary shelters. Portugal, reported more than 650 deaths due to heat-related illness. Spain has lost about 14,000 hectares of land to fires, and an estimated 360 deaths caused due to extreme heat. Italy has been reeling under a drought as the Po River basin, one of the ‘food bowls’ of Europe, has not received rainfall in more than 200 days.
Reason for Extreme Heatwaves
According to climate experts, many people of the continent have moved from rural areas to cities during the second half of the century in search of a better life. This has left significant areas of countryside neglected and vulnerable. The forests are littered with combustible materials like tree trunks, fallen branches, etc. This is the reason for unprecedented wildfires.
Due to global warming, temperatures on an average are about 1.1 degrees Celsius more than that in the late 19th century. Climate studies in the UK showed that a one degree rise in temperature raises the probability of the country, witnessing 40 degrees Celsius, by ten times. The rising global temperatures has led to deviations above the normal by as much as 15 degrees in the Antarctica. In the North Pole, the temperatures have increased by 3 degrees. This has led to changes in the old wind patterns. These changes have turned Western Europe into a ‘heat dome’—a low pressure area that began to attract hot air from Northern Africa.
The scorching temperatures of England and Wales were caused partly due to a region of upper-level low-pressure air that has been stalled off the coast of Portugal. It is known as ‘cutoff flow’ as it was cut off from the narrow band of westerly winds (jet streams which circulate several kilometres at high altitudes above the earth’s surface). The researchers found that many incidences of heatwaves in Europe occurred when the jet stream split into two. This left an area of weak winds and high-pressure air between the two branches that is favourable for the buildup of extreme heat.
Another reason is increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) which has increased by 48 per cent between 1750 and 2020 according to scientists. CO2 is the biggest contributor to global warming. In a glass greenhouse, CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, and other gases trap the heat of the Sun, causing temperatures to soar closer to the 1.5 degrees Celsius mark. This means that there would be longer and more severe heatwaves for many countries.
Circulation of the atmosphere and the ocean has also contributed to heatwaves in Europe. As the Arctic Ocean is warming at a faster rate, the temperature differential between this region and the equator decreases. This leads to a decrease in summertime winds, which has the effect of making weather systems to stay for longer durations.
Changes in one the world’s major ocean currents, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, may affect the climate of Europe. According to scientists, a weakening of the current, as the world warms up, would cause changes in atmospheric circulation leading to drier summers in Europe.
Impact of Extreme Heat in Europe
The heatwave in Europe could result in more such events to occur in the same area, because long periods of extreme heat results in drying out of soil. When there is some moisture in the soil, some of Sun’s energy is used in evaporating the water, leading to a slight cooling effect. However, when the heatwave wipes out almost all the moisture in the soil, then there is little left to evaporate during the next wave of hot air. As such, there is more of the Sun’s energy to heat the land, increasing the heat.
The greater frequency, intensity, and duration of the heatwaves have been linked to the growing incidence of drought in different parts of Europe. With shorter winters, vegetations starts to grow sooner, before the snows of the winter have replenished the water tables and the rivers. This has led to progressive depletion of water tables and increasingly drier soil and shallower rivers.
Due increase in the frequency and duration of heatwaves energy requirements in Europe have increase at a time when the fuel cost is on the rise. European politicians have imposed ban on Russian gas in response to Russia’s invasion on Ukraine.
In countries like Germany where the urgency to cut down carbon emissions is well acknowledged, there are demands of replacing Russian gas with domestic coal even by Green Party politicians.
Conclusion
Europe is facing a very hot summer, with heatwave conditions which are expected to continue for some more time. All the affected countries have issued heat alerts and health advisories to their citizens. Europe has been vocal about cutting down emissions and has sought to invest heavily on renewable and clean energy. However, this shift has been disrupted by the Ukraine war. Also, an impending energy crisis has been sparked by the self-imposed withdrawal from cheap Russian gas.
© Spectrum Books Pvt Ltd.