Trend lines and observation points for March (the month of sea-ice extent maximum) and September (the month of sea-ice extent minimum) have been indicated.

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Maximum extent of ice cover in the Baltic Sea in the winters 1719/20 – 2017/8 (blue bars) and 15 year moving average (red line). Source: Jouni Vainio, Finnish Meteorological Institute  (updated from Seinä and Palosuo 1996; Seinä et al. 2001).

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The extent and volume of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly since global data became available, especially in summer. Over the period 1979–2018, the Arctic has lost, on average, 89 000 km 2 per year by the end of summer (measured in September) and 46 000 km 2 of sea ice per year in winter (measured in March). In each of the last 12 years (2007–2018), Arctic summer sea ice extent was lower than in any previous year since the introduction of satellites in 1979. Arctic winter sea ice in 2017 and 2018 were the lowest on record. Arctic sea ice is also getting younger and thinner. The fraction of multi-year ice (i.e. ice that has sustained at least one summer) has decreased from 45 % in March 1985 to 21 % in March 2017. The maximum sea ice extent in the Baltic Sea shows a decreasing trend since about 1800. The decrease appears to have accelerated since the 1980s, but the interannual variability is large. Arctic sea ice is projected to continue shrinking and thinning. At current emission rates, a nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean at the end of summer is likely before mid-century. In contrast, emissions scenarios compatible with 1.5 °C global warming are expected to preserve Arctic summer sea ice. Baltic Sea ice, in particular the extent of the maximal cover, is projected to continue to shrink. Changes in the extent of sea ice are an important indicator of global warming. Reduced Arctic sea ice is accelerating global warming through the ice-albedo feedback. Arctic sea ice decline has also been linked to changing climate and weather extremes in Europe and beyond.

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According to different observational records of global average annual near-surface (land and ocean) temperature, the last decade (2008–2017) was 0.89 °C to 0.93 °C warmer than the pre-industrial average, which makes it the warmest decade on record. Of the 17 warmest years on record, 16 have occurred since 2000. The year 2017 was one of the world’s three warmest years on record together with the years 2016 and 2015.  The average annual temperature for the European land area for the last decade (2008–2017) was between 1.6 °C and 1.7 °C above the pre-industrial level, which makes it the warmest decade on record. In Europe, 2017 was colder than the previous 3 years.  Climate models project further increases in global average temperature over the 21st century (for the period 2081–2100 relative to 1986–2005) of between 0.3 °C and 1.7 °C for the lowest emissions scenario (RCP2.6) and between 2.6 °C and 4.8 °C for the highest emissions scenario (RCP8.5). All UNFCCC member countries have agreed on the long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 °C compared with pre-industrial levels and have agreed to aim to limit the increase to 1.5 °C. For the three highest of the four RCPs, the global average temperature increase is projected to exceed 2 °C compared with pre-industrial levels by 2050. Annual average land temperature over Europe is projected to increase by the end of this century (2071–2100 relative to 1971–2000) in the range of 1.0 °C to 4.5 °C under RCP4.5 and 2.5 °C to 5.5 °C under RCP8.5, which is more than the projected global average increase. The strongest warming is projected across north-eastern Europe and Scandinavia in winter and southern Europe in summer. The number of warm days (those exceeding the 90th percentile threshold of a baseline period) have doubled between 1960 and 2017 across the European land area. Europe has experienced several extreme heat waves since 2000 (2003, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2017). Under a high emissions scenario (RCP8.5), extreme heat waves as strong as these or even stronger are projected to occur as often as every two years in the second half of the 21st century. In southern Europe, they are projected to be particularly strong.

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Warm days are defined as being above the 90th percentile of the daily maximum temperature. Boxes outlined in solid black contain at least three stations and so are likely to be more representative of the entire grid. A significant (at the 5 % level) long-term trend is shown by a black dot.

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Boxes outlined in solid black contain at least three stations and so are likely to be more representative of the grid. A significant (at the 5 % level) long-term trend is shown by a black dot. Stations available in the European Climate Assessment and Datasets (ECA&D) (with different lengths of records) for daily maximum and minimum temperature.

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Information reported by EU Member States under the European mechanism for monitoring and reporting information relevant to climate change (EU, 2013b) and additional information provided on a voluntary basis to EEA up to September 2017 and the draft country fiches of the European Commission Adaptation Scoreboard (EC, 2017) for other EEA member countries information provided on a voluntary basis to the EEA up to September 2017.

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Exposure-response associations between temperature and mortality in four European cities, together with related temperatures distributions. The shaded grey area delineates the 95 % empirical confidence interval. Solid grey vertical lines are minimum mortality temperatures and dashed grey vertical lines delineate the 2.5th and 97.5th percentile temperatures.

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Climate change is warming the oceans, causing acidification of marine environments, and changing rainfall patterns. This combination of factors often exacerbates of other human pressures on the seas, leading to biodiversity loss in the oceans.

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This map viewer provides access to climate related observations and projections of climate change impacts, vulnerability and risks from the following projects and organisations: ClimWatAdapt, ESPON Climate, JRC-IES and ENSEMBLES. Please note that there are differences in the climate change scenarios and models used across these projects and organisations. Provided by the the 'CLIMATE-ADAPT' portal.

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This layer provides information at 237 locations along the European coastline

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Climate quality index: Structural analysis 1961-1990

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Climate change is warming the oceans, causing acidification of marine environments, and changing rainfall patterns. This combination of factors often exacerbates of other human pressures on the seas, leading to biodiversity loss in the oceans.

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The extent and volume of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly since global data became available, especially in summer. Over the period 1979–2018, the Arctic has lost, on average, 89 000 km 2 per year by the end of summer (measured in September) and 46 000 km 2 of sea ice per year in winter (measured in March). In each of the last 12 years (2007–2018), Arctic summer sea ice extent was lower than in any previous year since the introduction of satellites in 1979. Arctic winter sea ice in 2017 and 2018 were the lowest on record. Arctic sea ice is also getting younger and thinner. The fraction of multi-year ice (i.e. ice that has sustained at least one summer) has decreased from 45 % in March 1985 to 21 % in March 2017. The maximum sea ice extent in the Baltic Sea shows a decreasing trend since about 1800. The decrease appears to have accelerated since the 1980s, but the interannual variability is large. Arctic sea ice is projected to continue shrinking and thinning. At current emission rates, a nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean at the end of summer is likely before mid-century. In contrast, emissions scenarios compatible with 1.5 °C global warming are expected to preserve Arctic summer sea ice. Baltic Sea ice, in particular the extent of the maximal cover, is projected to continue to shrink. Changes in the extent of sea ice are an important indicator of global warming. Reduced Arctic sea ice is accelerating global warming through the ice-albedo feedback. Arctic sea ice decline has also been linked to changing climate and weather extremes in Europe and beyond.

Read more

According to different observational records of global average annual near-surface (land and ocean) temperature, the last decade (2008–2017) was 0.89 °C to 0.93 °C warmer than the pre-industrial average, which makes it the warmest decade on record. Of the 17 warmest years on record, 16 have occurred since 2000. The year 2017 was one of the world’s three warmest years on record together with the years 2016 and 2015.  The average annual temperature for the European land area for the last decade (2008–2017) was between 1.6 °C and 1.7 °C above the pre-industrial level, which makes it the warmest decade on record. In Europe, 2017 was colder than the previous 3 years.  Climate models project further increases in global average temperature over the 21st century (for the period 2081–2100 relative to 1986–2005) of between 0.3 °C and 1.7 °C for the lowest emissions scenario (RCP2.6) and between 2.6 °C and 4.8 °C for the highest emissions scenario (RCP8.5). All UNFCCC member countries have agreed on the long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 °C compared with pre-industrial levels and have agreed to aim to limit the increase to 1.5 °C. For the three highest of the four RCPs, the global average temperature increase is projected to exceed 2 °C compared with pre-industrial levels by 2050. Annual average land temperature over Europe is projected to increase by the end of this century (2071–2100 relative to 1971–2000) in the range of 1.0 °C to 4.5 °C under RCP4.5 and 2.5 °C to 5.5 °C under RCP8.5, which is more than the projected global average increase. The strongest warming is projected across north-eastern Europe and Scandinavia in winter and southern Europe in summer. The number of warm days (those exceeding the 90th percentile threshold of a baseline period) have doubled between 1960 and 2017 across the European land area. Europe has experienced several extreme heat waves since 2000 (2003, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2017). Under a high emissions scenario (RCP8.5), extreme heat waves as strong as these or even stronger are projected to occur as often as every two years in the second half of the 21st century. In southern Europe, they are projected to be particularly strong.

Read more

Maximum extent of ice cover in the Baltic Sea in the winters 1719/20 – 2017/8 (blue bars) and 15 year moving average (red line). Source: Jouni Vainio, Finnish Meteorological Institute  (updated from Seinä and Palosuo 1996; Seinä et al. 2001).

Read more

Trend lines and observation points for March (the month of sea-ice extent maximum) and September (the month of sea-ice extent minimum) have been indicated.

Read more

This map viewer provides access to climate related observations and projections of climate change impacts, vulnerability and risks from the following projects and organisations: ClimWatAdapt, ESPON Climate, JRC-IES and ENSEMBLES. Please note that there are differences in the climate change scenarios and models used across these projects and organisations. Provided by the the 'CLIMATE-ADAPT' portal.

Read more

Boxes outlined in solid black contain at least three stations and so are likely to be more representative of the grid. A significant (at the 5 % level) long-term trend is shown by a black dot. Stations available in the European Climate Assessment and Datasets (ECA&D) (with different lengths of records) for daily maximum and minimum temperature.

Read more

Warm days are defined as being above the 90th percentile of the daily maximum temperature. Boxes outlined in solid black contain at least three stations and so are likely to be more representative of the entire grid. A significant (at the 5 % level) long-term trend is shown by a black dot.

Read more

Information reported by EU Member States under the European mechanism for monitoring and reporting information relevant to climate change (EU, 2013b) and additional information provided on a voluntary basis to EEA up to September 2017 and the draft country fiches of the European Commission Adaptation Scoreboard (EC, 2017) for other EEA member countries information provided on a voluntary basis to the EEA up to September 2017.

Read more

Exposure-response associations between temperature and mortality in four European cities, together with related temperatures distributions. The shaded grey area delineates the 95 % empirical confidence interval. Solid grey vertical lines are minimum mortality temperatures and dashed grey vertical lines delineate the 2.5th and 97.5th percentile temperatures.

Read more