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Europe's changing climate hazards — an index-based interactive EEA report

Briefing Published 17 Nov 2021 Last modified 17 Feb 2023
2 min read
Photo: © Juan Manuel Hernández López, Climate Change PIX /EEA
Climate change is happening and we need to get ready for more intense heatwaves, floods and storms, wildfires and water scarcity. Different climate-related hazards affect regions, sectors of the economy and members of society in different ways. Decision-makers need the best data and information to help them understand the imperatives and make the necessary preparations — adapted to the different scenarios and likely consequences, at European, national and sub-national levels. Europe’s changing climate hazards, an interactive index-based EEA report, brings it all together with an overview of past and projected changes in Europe’s most important climate hazards.

Key messages


  • Climate change due to human activities is now undeniably responsible for an increase in extreme weather events in Europe. 
  • Pronounced regional differences in conditions mean that one-size-fits-all responses are no match for the growing threat that these climate hazards pose to property and lives. 
  • People everywhere need to be prepared for more days with extreme temperatures and for more extreme precipitation events. The Mediterranean region especially should be ready for hotter summers and more frequent droughts. 
  • High-quality, enriched data are crucial to assess who is likely to be affected and how, yet not all EEA member countries have had access to such fine-grained data. Now all European regions do. 
  • The EEA’s tools help European countries to implement their policies on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, under the European Climate Law and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

Chapters of the Europe's changing climate hazards report

  1. Heat and cold

  2. Wet and dry

  3. Wind

  4. Snow and ice

  5. Coastal

  6. Open ocean

Consult an overview of Europe's 16 hazards with their 32 indices grouped into six hazard types as identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its Sixth Assessment Report, by clicking on the image: 

Features of the EEA’s interactive climate hazards report and related products 


Climate hazards are grouped under 32 indices and presented in a highly visual way to help decision-makers understand the challenges they face and prepare for them. The features of the report include: 

  • an index-based overview of past and projected changes in major climate hazards affecting Europe 

  • access to generalised or detailed information according to user needs in the European Climate Data Explorer 

  • insight into how various climate hazards affect different sectors 

  • the ability to zoom in on the data for a region or even a sub-region - for 15 of the 32 indices.

  • interactive maps to better represent and communicate climate hazards to everyone affected. 

Find out how information can help Europe tackle the hazards created by climate change due to human activities.  

Desert

Consult technical information on the indices: Technical Paper 1/2020 Climate-related hazard indices for Europe by the ETC/CCA. 

Consult the European Climate Data Explorer on the EEA’s Climate-ADAPT portal, based on data delivered by Copernicus Climate Change System.  


Browse an overview of national and transnational climate atlases in Europe, which provides information that is complementary to this report.   

Climate change
With this online report and related products, the EEA responds to policy developments and related information needs to support adaptation planning and implementation at the European, transnational, national and sub-national levels. 

Photo: © Juan Manuel Hernández López, Climate Change PIX /EEA

Acronyms and abbreviations, concepts and definitions

 

Identifiers

Report no. 15/2021
Title: Europe's changing climate hazards — an index-based interactive EEA report
HTML - TH-AL-21-015-EN-Q- ISBN 978-92-9480-407-5 ISSN 1977-8449 - doi: 10.2800/458052

 

 

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Briefing What will the future bring when it comes to climate hazards? - Overview A carefully selected set of indices covering the main climate-related hazards for Europe has been put together from available data sources by experts in the field. These 32 indices are organised according to 16 hazards and are grouped into six categories consistent with the ‘climatic impact drivers’ adopted in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report. These categories and the key take-home messages from the EEA’s interactive report on Europe’s changing climate hazards are found below.
Briefing Europe’s changing climate hazards — about the report Europe’s changing climate hazards report lets users explore the latest data on 32 climate hazard indices. It provides the big picture and also the detailed information needed for smarter decision-making to prevent the worst impacts of climate change from affecting communities and regions across Europe. Here, we show how information can help Europe tackle the hazards created by man-made climate change.

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See also

Page National and transnational climate atlases in Europe Many European countries have developed national ‘climate atlases’ (or ‘climate portals’) with spatially explicit information on past and projected climate change. These atlases inform the development and implementation of climate change adaptation plans and strategies, and provide complementary information to pan-European sources, including the indices presented in the Europe’s changing climate hazards report and the European Climate Data Explorer. The national atlases often use more detailed models and observations, and they can contextualise information on the changing climate in terms of regional environmental and socio-economic conditions in the local language(s).
File National and transnational climate atlases in Europe.
Folder Open ocean From this page you can access all the indices related to Open ocean.
Folder Coastal From this page, you can access all indices related to coastal hazards.
Folder Snow and ice From this page, you can access all the indices related to snow and ice hazards.
Folder Wind From this page, you can access all indices related to wind hazards.
Folder Wet and dry From this page, you can access all indices related to wet and dry hazards.
Folder Heat and cold From this page, you can access all indices on Heat and cold hazards.
Disclaimer

The country assessments are the sole responsibility of the EEA member and cooperating countries supported by the EEA through guidance, translation and editing.

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For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/europes-changing-climate-hazards-1/climate-hazards-indices or scan the QR code.

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