Europe – Page 19 – Desdemona Despair

Map showing the near-surface air temperature differences from the 1981-2010 average for January to September 2021. Data are from the ERA5 reanalysis product. Graphic: C3S / ECMWF

December 12, 2021

State of the Climate in 2021: Past seven years are on track to be the seven warmest on record – “Extreme events are the new norm”

GENEVA, 31 October 2021 (WMO) – Record atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and associated accumulated heat have propelled the planet into uncharted territory, with far-reaching repercussions for current and future generations, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The past seven years are on track to be the seven warmest on record, according to the provisional WMO […]

Average annual global wealth growth rate, 1995-2021. Graph: World Inequality Lab

December 12, 2021

Global wealth inequalities are close to early 20th century levels, at the peak of Western imperialism – “The share of income presently captured by the poorest half of the world’s people is about half what it was in 1820”

8 December 2021 (World Inequality Lab) – […] An average adult individual earns PPP €16,700 (PPP USD23,380) per year in 2021, and the average adult owns €72,900 (USD102,600). These averages mask wide disparities both between and within countries. The richest 10% of the global population currently takes 52% of global income, whereas the poorest half […]

Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, 1959-2021. Global CO2 emissions bounced back after COVID-19 restrictions and reached pre-pandemic levels in 2021. Graph: Global Carbon Project

December 12, 2021

Global carbon emissions rebound to pre-pandemic levels after unprecedented drop in 2020 – “The fast recovery in CO2 emissions, following last year’s sharp drop, should come as no surprise”

By Pep Canadell, Corinne Le Quéré, Glen Peters, Pierre Friedlingstein, Robbie Andrew, and Rob Jackson 3 November 2021 (The Conversation) – Global carbon dioxide emissions have bounced back after COVID-19 restrictions and are likely to reach close to pre-pandemic levels this year, our analysis released today has found. The troubling finding comes as the COP26 climate talks […]

Projected coal demand in the Stated Policies Scenario in the World Energy Outlooks 2021, 2020, and 2016. The International Energy Agency’s flagship outlook in October 2021 projected that under nations’ existing policies, global demand doesn’t begin falling again for several years. Then it declines but in 2050 is still at 70 percent of today’s levels. The IEA’s roadmap for reaching net-zero global emissions by 2050 requires a 55 percent decline by 2030. Graphic: IEA

November 17, 2021

After COP26: The long road to phasing down coal – “It is hard to shut down coal facilities because few countries have sufficient spare capacity in their electricity systems to be able to do so”

By Ben Geman 16 November 2021 (Axios) – Let’s leave to history to see whether the COP26 deal to “phase down” coal instead of “phase out” makes any real-world difference, but what’s clear is that any meaningful “phasing” at all is hard. Why it matters: Coal is the most carbon-intensive fuel. Any pathway to meeting the Paris Agreement […]

Satellite view of Lake Tuz in Turkey acquired on 23 October 2021. Lake Tuz is Turkey's second-largest lake and home to several bird species. During the summer of 2021, the lake completely dried up causing the death of thousands of flamingos and other bird species that inhabit the lake. Experts attribute the extreme drought in eastern Turkey to climate change. Photo: European Union / Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery

November 6, 2021

Haunting satellite imagery shows Turkey’s second-largest lake has dried up

By Molly Taft 2 November 2021 (Gizmodo) – A new satellite image of Turkey’s Lake Tuz is gorgeous—and, if you know more about what it’s portraying, worrying. The stunning capture from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellite shows Turkey’s second-largest lake has completely dried up this year, exposing a haunting expanse of salt. While Lake Tuz, one of the world’s largest saltwater lakes, […]

A boy looks at the bodies of more than 1400 Atlantic White-Sided dolphins slaughtered on the Skálabotnur beach in the Danish Faroe Islands on 12 September 2021. Photo: Sea Shepherd

September 14, 2021

More than 1,400 dolphins slaughtered in one day in Faroe Islands – “Possibly the largest single hunt of cetaceans ever recorded worldwide”

By Joshua Nevett 14 September 2021 (BBC News) – The practice of dolphin hunting in the Faroe Islands has come under scrutiny after more than 1,400 of the mammals were killed in what was believed to be a record catch. The pod of white-sided dolphins was driven into the largest fjord in the North Atlantic […]

A man watches the flames as wildfire approaches Kochyli beach near Limni village on the island of Evia, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Athens, Greece, late Friday, 6 August 2021. Wildfires raged uncontrolled through Greece and Turkey for yet another day Friday, forcing thousands to flee by land and sea, and killing a volunteer firefighter on the fringes of Athens in a huge forest blaze that threatened the Greek capital's most important national park. Photo: Thodoris Nikolaou / AP Photo

August 8, 2021

Thousands flee wildfires in Greece – Forest and homes burn during “nightmarish summer” of heatwave and drought – “For the next 40 years we will have no job, and in the winter, we are going to drown from the floods without the forests that were protecting us”

By Elena Becatoros, Demetris Nellas, and Michael Varaklas 8 August 2021 ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Three large wildfires churned across Greece on Saturday, with one threatening whole towns and cutting a line across Evia, the country’s second-largest island, isolating its northern part. Others engulfed forested mountainsides and skirted ancient sites, leaving behind a trail of […]

Firefighters try to get a wildfire under control in Kirli village near the town of Manavgat, in Antalya province, Turkey, early Friday, 30 July 2021. Photo: AP Photo

August 1, 2021

Eight dead as wildfires sweep Turkey, force tourists to flee beach resorts – “The animals are on fire”

By Gul Tuysuz and Arwa Damon 1 August 2021 MANAVGAT, Turkey (CNN) – In the small village of Kacarlar, on Turkey’s southern coast, farmers are facing apocalyptic scenes as wildfires continue to sweep the country. “The animals are on fire,” 56-year-old resident, Muzeyyan Kacar, told CNN. “Everything is going to burn. Our land, our animals, […]

Map showing rainfall anomalies (percentage) for seasons of 2020 in the UK. This was the fifth wettest year for UK in a series from 1862, and the wettest year since 2000. It was a particularly wet year across parts of north-west England and south-west Scotland which received more than 125% of average fairly widely, and some locations recorded more than 135% of average. Winter refers to the period December 2019 to February 2020. Note that winter 2021 (December 2020 to February 2021) will appear in State of the UK Climate 2021. Graphic: Met Office

July 31, 2021

Climate change continued across the UK in 2020 – 2020 was the first year that rainfall, temperature, and sunshine values all were in the top ten in the same year

By Karen Graham 29 July 2021 (Digital Journal) – The United Kingdom’s climate has continued to warm, with the decade 2011–2020 providing a 10-year “snapshot” of the most recent of the UK’s climate events and how this compares to historical records. According to the Met Office, The Royal Meteorological Society’s latest analysis of the UK climate – […]

Global map showing COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people, 20 July 2021. The map shows the huge difference in vaccination rates between some wealthy nations and the rest of the world. Graphic: Max Roser / Our World In Data

July 20, 2021

Map shows striking vaccination divide between rich countries and the rest of the world – “We are making conscious choices right now not to protect those in need”

By Sinéad Baker 19 July 2021 (Business Insider) – A map shows the huge difference in vaccination rights between some rich countries and the rest of the world. The graph, produced by Max Roser of the site Our World in Data, shows the proportion of each country to receive at least one dose of a coronavirus […]