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Climate change is already impacting Europeans’ daily lives and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Europe is expected to get warmer, some regions getting drier, while others wetter. These changes will not only impact our health but also the ecosystems we depend on. The EU is preparing to live with a changing climate through various adaptation measures.
Climate change is happening now — and even if we effectively reduce global emissions, it will continue to impact our lives. Flooding, droughts, heatwaves and other climate-related hazards are becoming more intense, longer and more frequent. These hazards carry significant health and economic impacts. While all Europeans are affected by climate change, some communities and regions are more vulnerable.
Extreme weather events like storms, heatwaves and flooding accounted for 85,000 to 145,000 human fatalities across Europe, over the past 40 years. Over 85% of those fatalities were due to heatwaves. Economic losses from weather and climate-related extremes in Europe reached around half a trillion euros over the same period.
Less than a third of non-human losses were covered by insurance. Closing the climate protection gap by increasing insurance coverage can help increase societies’ ability to recover from disasters, reduce vulnerability, and promote resilience.
Building infrastructure that is resistant to hazards and using nature-based solutions like floodplains are examples of adaptation measures. Climate change adaptation measures are critical to increase our resilience and reduce disaster risks for all people in the EU.
Climate change is impacting Europe's environment and people in many ways. Extreme weather events like heatwaves, storm surges, droughts, and floods have the most significant effects.
- Extreme weather has health impacts, particularly on vulnerable groups. The elderly, children and people in poor health are more likely to be affected by heatwaves, for example.
- Global mean near-surface temperature between 2013 and 2022 was 1.13 to 1.17°C warmer than the pre-industrial level, which makes it the warmest decade on record. European land temperatures have increased even faster over the same period by 2.04 to 2.10°C.
- Between 1980 and 2021, weather- and climate-related extremes caused economic losses estimated at EUR 560 billion in the EU Member States, of which EUR 56.6 billion from 2021.
- Diseases are moving north. Mosquitos and ticks carrying infectious diseases are gaining a foothold in many parts of Europe.
- Arctic sea ice has declined by an average of 76,000 km2 in summer and 32,000 km2 in winter since 1979.
- Severe droughts caused a 3% annual vegetation productivity loss in affected areas from 2000-2019.
- Forest fires coinciding with record droughts and heatwaves affected central and northern European regions that are not typically prone to fires and had devastating effects in southern Europe.
- Soil moisture in the growing season was far below the long-term average in EEA member countries plus the UK from 2000-2019.
Across the EU, climate change adaptation measures are being taken to decrease specific risks and impacts. In February 2021, the European Commission adopted the EU Adaptation Strategy. The Strategy outlines a long-term vision for the EU to become climate-resilient by 2050. All EU Member States have also adopted adaptation strategies and/or plans specific to their country’s needs and risks.
Examples of adaptation projects include:
- Preventing flooding through urban adaptation measures, like new locks in Albert Kanaal in Flanders, Belgium.
- Saving energy and reducing emissions with nature-based solutions, like green roofs.
Climate adaptation methods like these will make Europe more resilient to the impacts of climate change. By climate-proofing our infrastructure and enhancing nature-based solutions, we can be prepared for today's and tomorrow’s climate change risks and impacts.
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Frequently asked questions
Extreme weather events are increasingly influencing adaptation policies
Climate risk assessments that take account of threats like heatwaves, droughts, floods and wildfires are increasingly being used to inform and improve national adaptation policies.
Heatwaves, droughts, floods and increasing wildfires were the top extreme weather events reported by national authorities in 2023. Many countries also reported that they expected an increase of frequency and intensity of these events.
Europe's regions will need to prepare for different impacts
While climate change impacts are felt throughout the EU, the impacts felt in different regions will vary. Our assessment also shows that some regions are more vulnerable:
- Changes in rainfall will differ considerably throughout Europe, with expected heavy rain in the north. Combined with more frequent heatwaves, lower rainfall will present a greater risk of drought and forest fires in the south.
- Storm intensity is projected to increase across Europe, but changes in frequency are projected to differ across regions.
- Snowfall is projected to decrease in central and southern Europe, whereas mixed changes are anticipated for northern Europe.
- Sea levels will rise in all areas except the North Baltic Sea.
- Sea surface temperature is projected to increase in all European seas. Europe’s seas are also expected to become more acidic.
Climate-ADAPT platform: Sharing adaptation knowledge for a climate-resilient Europe
ImageIgor Popovic, Climate Change PIX /EEA
Inequality leaves some communities more vulnerable
The most vulnerable in the EU are most likely to be exposed to climate change-related environmental health impacts.
- Vulnerable groups like the elderly, children and those in poor health tend to be more adversely affected by environmental health hazards than the general population.
- Groups of lower socioeconomic status tend to be more negatively affected by environmental health hazards because of greater exposure and higher vulnerability.
- Urban areas have disproportionate exposure to air pollution, noise, and high temperatures — especially among lower socioeconomic groups.
Climate change impacts nature, too
Climate change is already significantly impacting plant and animal species, as well as where they can survive and thrive.
Some species are expected to move northward several hundred kilometres, or toward higher elevations, while others will become extinct. A landscape fragmented by transport infrastructure might hamper their ability to move and adapt.
Climate change is also likely to exacerbate the problem of invasive species in Europe. As climatic conditions change, some locations may become more favourable to non-native species, which then begin to thrive and negatively impact their new environments by outcompeting native species, altering habitats, and contributing to biodiversity loss.
Climate change also affects the interaction of species that depend on each other for food or other reasons.