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The melting Arctic
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The extent of the sea ice in the Arctic reached a new record low in September 2012. Climate change is melting the sea ice in the region at a rate much faster than estimated by earlier projections. The snow cover also shows a downward trend. The melting Arctic might impact not only the people living in the region, but also elsewhere in Europe and beyond.
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Articles
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Trend in heating degree days in the EU-27
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The map shows the trend in heating degree days in the EU-27 (1980-2009)
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Data and maps
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Maps and graphs
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Trends in warm days and cool nights across Europe
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Warm days are defined as being above the 90th percentile of the daily maximum temperature and cool nights as below the 10th percentile of the daily minimum temperature (Alexander et al., 2006). Grid boxes outlined in solid black contain at least three stations and so are likely to be more representative of the grid-box. High confidence in the long-term trend is shown by a black dot. (In the maps above, this is the case for all grid boxes.) Area averaged annual time series of percentage changes and trend lines are shown below each map for one area in northern Europe (green line, 5.6 ° to 16.9 °E and 56.2 ° to 66.2 °N) and one in south-western Europe (purple line, 350.6 ° to 1.9 °E and 36.2 ° to 43.7 °N).
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Data and maps
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Maps and graphs
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Urban environment - SOER 2010 thematic assessment
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The global population is congregating in our cities. Eighty per cent of the world’s estimated nine billion people in 2050 are expected to live in urban areas. Our cities and urban areas face many challenges from social to health to environmental. The impacts of cities and urban areas are felt in other regions which supply cities with food, water and energy and absorb pollution and waste. However, the proximity of people, businesses and services associated with the very word ‘city’ means that there are also huge opportunities. Indeed, well designed, well managed urban settings offer a key opportunity for sustainable living.
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The European environment – state and outlook 2010
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Thematic assessments
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Urban flooding — impervious surfaces reduce the drainage of rain water and increase the risk for urban flooding
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The map shows the average soil sealing degree inside the UMZ of European core cities (core city defined in Urban Atlas / Urban Audit). Soil sealing degrees are represented in coloured dots. The city dots are overlaid onto a modelled map displaying the change in annual number of days with heavy rainfall between the reference periods 1961-1990 and 2071-2100.
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Data and maps
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Maps and graphs