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Environmental indicator report 2012: Reliable, relevant, targeted and timely environmental information is an essential element in implementing environmental policy and management processes. Such information can come in many formats — with indicators being a long-established approach to distilling detailed information into trends that are robust and easily understandable by a broad audience.
Located in Publications
Fluorinated greenhouse gases (aggregated data): The visualization shows the 2007-2011 trend of production, imports, exports and consumption of F-gases in EU-27, based on the information reported by undertakings. Values are expressed in million tonnes CO2-eq., using the GWP provided in the 3rd Assessment IPCC Report (GWP TAR). The information is provided by type of gases (HFCs, PFCs or SF6) when available or is reported as 'Unspecified' in cases where there is not enough information/ the confidentiality rule applies.
Located in Data and maps › Envisualise your data
Glaciers (CLIM 007) - Assessment published Nov 2012: The vast majority of glaciers in the European glacial regions are in retreat. Glaciers in the European Alps have lost approximately two thirds of their volume since 1850, with clear acceleration since the 1980s. Glacier retreat is expected to continue in the future. The volume of European glaciers has been estimated to decline between 22 and 66 % compared to the current situation by 2100 under a business-as-usual emission scenario. Glacier retreat contributes to sea-level rise and it affects freshwater supply and run off regimes, river navigation, irrigation and power generation. It may also cause natural hazards and damage to infrastructure.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Glaciers
Global and European temperature (CSI 012/CLIM 001) - Assessment published May 2011: Global The global (land and ocean) average temperature increase between 1850 and 2010 was 0.81 0 C using combined UK Met Office Hadley centre and University of East Anglia - Climate Research Unit HadCRUT3 dataset compared to the 1850 - 1899 period average temperature and 0.89 0 C using Goddard Institute for Space Studies - GISS dataset compared to the 1880 - 1899 period average temperature. All used temperature records show the 2000s decade (2001 - 2010) was the warmest decade. For the HadCRUT3 and GISS datasets the rate of the global average has increased from around 0.06 0 C per decade over last 100 years, to 0.18 - 0.22 0 C in last decade. The best estimates for projected global warming in this century are a further rise in the global average temperature from 1.8 to 4.0 0 C for different scenarios that assume no further/additional action to limit emissions. The EU global temperature target is projected to be exceeded between 2040 and 2060, taking into account all six IPCC scenarios. Europe Europe has warmed more than the global average. The average temperature for the European land area for the last decade (2001 - 2010) was 1.2 °C above the 1850 - 1899 average, and for the combined land and ocean area 1.0 °C above. Considering the land area, 8 out of the last 13 years were among the warmest years since 1850. High-temperature extremes like hot days, tropical nights, and heat waves have become more frequent, while low - temperature extremes (e.g. cold spells, frost days) have become less frequent in Europe. The average length of summer heat waves over Western Europe doubled over the period 1850 to 2010 and the frequency of hot days almost tripled. The annual average temperature in Europe is projected to rise in this century with the largest warming over eastern and northern Europe in winter, and over Southern Europe in summer. High temperature events across Europe including temperature extremes such as heat waves are projected to become more frequent, intense and longer this century, whereas winter temperature variability and the number of cold and frost extremes are projected to decrease further. According to the projections, the most affected European regions are going to be the Iberian and the Apennine Peninsula and south - eastern Europe.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Global and European temperature
Global and European temperature (CSI 012/CLIM 001) - Assessment published Jun 2010: Global The global (land and ocean) average temperature increase between 1850 and 2009 was 0.74 0 C using combined Hadley centre and CRU datasets compared to the 1850 - 1899 period average temperature and 0.84 0 C using GISS dataset compared to the 1880 - 1899 period average temperature. All used temperature records show the 2000s decade (2000 - 2009) was the warmest decade. The rate of global average temperature change has increased from around 0.06 0 C per decade over last 100 years, to 0.16 - 0.20 0 C in last decade. The best estimates for projected global warming in this century are a further rise in the global average temperature from 1.8 to 4.0 0 C for different scenarios that assume no further/additional action to limit emissions. The EU global temperature target is projected to be exceeded between 2040 and 2060, taking into account all six IPCC scenarios. Europe Europe has warmed more than the global average. The annual average temperature for the European land area up to 2009 was 1.3 0 C above 1850 - 1899 average temperature, and for the combined land and ocean area 1 0 C above. Considering the land area, nine out of the last 12 years were among the warmest years since 1850. High-temperature extremes like hot days, tropical nights, and heat waves have become more frequent, while low - temperature extremes (e.g. cold spells, frost days) have become less frequent in Europe. The average length of summer heat waves over Western Europe doubled over the period 1850 to 2009 and the frequency of hot days almost tripled. The annual average temperature in Europe is projected to rise in this century with the largest warming over eastern and northern Europe in winter, and over Southern Europe in summer. High temperature events across Europe including temperature extremes such as heat waves are projected to become more frequent, intense and longer this century, whereas winter temperature variability and the number of cold and frost extremes are projected to decrease further. According to the projections, the most affected European regions are going to be the Iberian and the Apennine Peninsula and south - eastern Europe.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Global and European temperature
Global and European temperature (CSI 012/CLIM 001) - Assessment published Jun 2012: Global Three independent long records of global average near-surface (land and ocean) annual temperature show that the decade between 2002 and 2011 was 0.77°C to 0.80°C warmer than the pre-industrial average. In recent decades, the rate of change in global average temperature has been close to the 0.2°C per decade. The Arctic has warmed significantly more than the globe, and this is projected to continue into the future. The best estimate for the further rise in global average temperature is between 1.8 and 4.0°C for the lowest and highest SRES marker scenarios (IPCC SRES) that assume no additional political measures to limit emissions. When climate model uncertainties are taken into account, the likely range increases to 1.1 – 6.4 °C. The EU target of limiting global average temperature increase to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels is projected to be exceeded during the second half of this century and likely around 2050, for all six IPCC scenarios. Europe The average temperature for the European land area for the last decade (2002-2011) is 1.3°C above the pre-industrial level, which makes it the warmest on record. Annual average land temperature over Europe is projected to continue increasing by more than global land temperature during the 21 st century. By the 2021-2050 period, temperature increases of between 1.0°C and 2.5°C are projected, and by 2071-2100 this increases to between 2.5°C and 4.0°C. The largest temperature increase during 21 st century is projected over eastern and northern Europe in winter and over Southern Europe in summer. Extremes of cold have become less frequent in Europe while warm extremes have become more frequent. Since 1880 the average length of summer heat waves over Western Europe doubled and frequency of hot days almost tripled.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Global and European temperature
Global average air temperature anomalies (1850 to 2011) in degrees Celsius (°C) relative to a pre-industrial baseline period: Global average air temperature anomalies (1850 to 2011) in degrees Celsius (°C) relative to a pre-industrial baseline period for 3 analyses of observations: 1) Black line - HadCRUT3 from the UK Met Office Hadley Centre and University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit, baseline period 1850-1899 (Brohan et al., 2006) with the grey area representing the 95% confidence range, 2) Red line – MLOST from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climatic Data Centre, baseline period 1880-1899 (Smith et al., 2008), and 3) Blue line - GISSTemp from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Institute for Space Studies, baseline period 1880-1899 (Hansen et al., 2010). Upper graph shows annual anomalies and lower graph shows decadal average anomalies for the same datasets.
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Greenland ice sheet (CLIM 009) - Assessment published Nov 2012: The Greenland ice sheet is the largest body of ice in the Northern Hemisphere and plays an important role in the cryosphere. It changed in the 1990s from being in near mass balance to losing about 100 billion tonnes of ice per year. Ice losses have since then more than doubled to 250 billion tonnes a year averaged over 2005 to 2009. The contribution of ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet to global sea-level rise is estimated at 0.14–0.28 mm/year for the period 1993–2003 and has since increased. The recent melting of the Greenland ice sheet is estimated to have contributed up to 0.7 mm a year to sea-level rise, which is approximately one quarter of the total sea-level rise of about 3.1 mm/year. Model projections suggest further declines of the Greenland ice sheet in the future but the processes determining the rate of change are still poorly understood.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Greenland ice sheet
Increase in the number of combined tropical nights (minimum temperature exceeding 20 °C) and hot days (maximum temperature exceeding 35 °C) under present and future climate conditions: The map is the result of climatic modelling and represents the number of combined tropical nights (T>20°C) and hot days (T>35°C) for the period 2071 to 2100
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Key message 2 — SOER synthesis: Climate change — The EU has reduced its greenhouse gas emission and is on track to meet its Kyoto Protocol commitments. However, global and European cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are far from sufficient to keep average world temperature increases below 2 °C. Greater efforts are needed to mitigate the effects of climate change and put in place adaptation measures to increase Europe's resilience.
Located in The European environment – state and outlook 2010 › … › The European environment – state and outlook 2010: Synthesis › Key messages