Living in the 21st century, we are familiar with the phenomenon of global warming. It is responsible for adversely affecting the climate and posing a serious threat to the social and economic development of countries across the world. Since Europe is located in the northern part of the globe, there are peculiar changes in its climate in the past decade. This article will provide details about global warming-caused weather changes on the continent.
What is Global Warming?
To put it simply, it means that our Earths atmosphere and oceans are getting warmer each year. This is due to the rise in greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, which absorbs the heat of the sun more than the required amounts and causes our planet to get warmer. These gases are emitted because of human activities like pollution, deforestation and the likes.
What Does It Do?
Global warming has a very severe impact on our lives. It creates floods, droughts, famines and even devastating hurricanes. Its long-term impact is even worse: rising levels of seawater, extreme weather changes, unbalanced ecology, and a lot more. For instance, the weather forecast in London predicted in 2010 was that UK would experience the coldest winter to date, and one of the main reasons behind this was global warming.
How Does It Affect Europe?
Being in the temperate zone, Europe usually has extreme and dry climate with less rainfall. However, UK and Ireland are strongly influenced by the sea. Hence, their climate is more humid and erratic as compared to North America, which is located around the same latitude.
But, global warming has changed this scenario considerably. The heat wave of 2003 and the chilly winters of 2010 have severely affected London, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds weather, amongst others. As each year sees more erratic weather, there has been a significant loss in the national economy. Agriculture, tourism, and industrial development have really taken a hit.
Studies show that as compared to the global average, Europe is warmer, and the last decade (2001-2010) has seen a rise of 1.2 degree Celsius as compared to the previous decade. It is predicted that along with other cities, Bristol weather is going to experience frequent extremes, including frost days, dry spells, and heat waves. This time around, they will be more intense and last for longer periods of time.
This issue is affecting people on a very large scale and international norms are being put into place to ensure that companies reduce their carbon footprint. On an individual level we all need to do our bit to save the ecology.
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