Latest news with #Copernicus
Mint
12-06-2025
- Climate
- Mint
Saharan Heat Forecast to Bring Thunderstorms and Dust to Europe
(Bloomberg) -- The blast of North African heat enveloping parts of Europe this week will bring powerful thunderstorms and Saharan sand in its wake. Amber storm alerts have been issued for Castile and Leon in Spain, along with northern Portugal on Wednesday, as the heat breaks over Iberia. Further north, the highest temperatures for the UK and France are likely to come on Friday. Highs will climb to 36C (97F) in Rome, with London reaching 27C and Paris 31C. The heat will push moisture high into the atmosphere, building storm clouds that could bring torrential rain, hail and lightning to France and the UK over the coming days. The storms could dump to 40 millimeters (1.6 inches) of rain — more than half the total for June last year — in a few hours, according to the UK Met Office. 'These storms are going to have to be high energy,' Alex Deakin, a meteorologist with the UK Met Office said in a forecast briefing. 'They will drop a lot of rain in a short space of time.' Those storms are also expected to collect a strong plume of dust off the Sahara Desert, coating windows and cars, and potentially disrupting solar power generation, according to weather analytics firm MetDesk. The heat comes after a period of unsettled and wet weather in northwest Europe wasn't sufficient to offset an unusually warm and dry spring. Precipitation and soil moisture in the region were at the lowest levels in decades, according to a new analysis from the Copernicus satellite program. Spring river flows across Europe were the lowest since 1992, but the south and parts of northwestern Russia saw an unusually wet March to May period, the data show. Temperatures showed a similar divide this spring, with warmer-than-normal conditions across western Europe and cooler weather in the east. While May 2025 was 0.29C below the long-term norm in Europe, the Copernicus analysis found global average temperature were 0.59C above normal — the second-highest ever recorded and 1.4C above pre-industrial averages. More stories like this are available on
eNCA
11-06-2025
- Science
- eNCA
May 2025 second warmest on record: EU climate monitor
PARIS - Global heating continued as the new norm, with last month the second warmest May on record on land and in the oceans, according to the European Union's climate monitoring service. The planet's average surface temperature dipped below the threshold of 1.5 degree Celsius above preindustrial levels, just shy of the record for May set last year, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The same held for the world's oceans. With a surface temperature of 20.79C, last month was second only to May 2024, with some unprecedented warmth regionally. "Large areas in the northeast North Atlantic, which experienced a marine heatwave, had record surface temperatures for the month," Copernicus reported. "Most of the Mediterranean Sea was much warmer than average." The increasingly dire state of the oceans is front-and-centre at the third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC), which kicked off Monday in Nice, France. Ocean heatwaves are driving marine species to migrate, damaging ecosystems, and reducing the ability of ocean layers to mix, thus hindering the distribution of nutrients. Covering 70 percent of the globe's surface, oceans redistribute heat and play a crucial role in regulating Earth's climate. Surface water warmed by climate change drive increasingly powerful storms, causing new levels of destruction and flooding in their wake. Some parts of Europe, meanwhile, "experienced their lowest levels of precipitation and soil moisture since at least 1979," Copernicus noted. Britain has been in the grips of its most intense drought in decades, with Denmark and the Netherlands also suffering from a lack of rain. Earth's surface last month was 1.4C above the preindustrial benchmark, defined as the average temperature from 1850 to 1900, before the massive use of fossil fuels caused the climate to dramatically warm. "May 2025 interrupts an unprecedentedly long sequence of months above 1.5C," noted Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. All but one of the previous 22 months crossed this critical threshold, which marks the 2015 Paris Agreement's most ambitious target for capping global warming. "This may offer a brief respite for the planet, but we expect the 1.5C threshold to be exceeded again in the near future due to the continued warming of the climate system," he added.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
May 2025 second warmest on record: EU climate monitor
Global heating persisted as the new norm, with last month the second warmest May on record on land and in the oceans, according to the European Union's climate monitoring service. The planet's average surface temperature dipped below the threshold of 1.5 degree Celsius above preindustrial levels, just shy of the record for May set last year, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The same held for the world's oceans. With a surface temperature of 20.79C, last month was second only to May 2024, with some unprecedented warmth regionally. "Large areas in the northeast North Atlantic, which experienced a marine heatwave, had record surface temperatures for the month," Copernicus reported. "Most of the Mediterranean Sea was much warmer than average." The increasingly dire state of the oceans is front-and-centre at the third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC), which kicked off Monday in Nice, France. Ocean heatwaves are driving marine species to migrate, decimating coral reefs, damaging ecosystems, and reducing the ability of ocean layers to mix, which hinders the distribution of nutrients. Covering 70 percent of the globe's surface, oceans redistribute heat and play a crucial role in regulating Earth's climate. Surface water warmed by climate change drive increasingly powerful storms, causing new levels of destruction and flooding in their wake. Some parts of Europe, meanwhile, "experienced their lowest levels of precipitation and soil moisture since at least 1979", Copernicus noted. Britain has been in the grips of its most intense drought in decades, with Denmark and the Netherlands also suffering from a lack of rain. Persistent dry conditions have also led to the lowest spring river flow across Europe since records began in 1992. - 'Brief respite' - Boreal forests across Canada, northern Europe and Siberia saw the second warmest spring on record, fuelling forest fires in Canada where two provinces declared a state of emergency. Ten days into June, more than 220 actives fires burned across the country, half of them classified as out-of-control. Earth's surface last month was 1.4C above the preindustrial benchmark, defined as the average temperature from 1850 to 1900, before the massive use of fossil fuels caused the climate to dramatically warm. "May 2025 interrupts an unprecedentedly long sequence of months above 1.5C," noted Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. All but one of the previous 22 months crossed this critical threshold, which marks the 2015 Paris Agreement's most ambitious target for capping global warming. "This may offer a brief respite for the planet, but we expect the 1.5C threshold to be exceeded again in the near future due to the continued warming of the climate system," he added. Over the 12-month period June 2024 to May 2025, warming averaged 1.57C compared to the 1850-1900 benchmark. The Paris treaty target, however, is pegged to a 20-year average, in order to account for the influence of natural variability. The UN's climate science advisory panel, the IPCC, has said there is a 50 percent chance of breaching the 1.5C barrier in line with these criteria between 2030 and 2035. Using this method of calculation, the world today has warmed by at least 1.3C. The UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO), meanwhile, has said there is a 70 percent chance the five-year period 2025-2029, on average, will exceed the 1.5C limit. Scientists stress the importance of limiting global warming as soon and as much as possible because every fraction of a degree increases the risks of more deadly and destructive impacts, on land and in the sea. Limiting warming to 1.5C rather than 2C would significantly reduce the most catastrophic consequences, the IPCC concluded in a major report in 2018. jmi/mh/phz/giv
France 24
11-06-2025
- Science
- France 24
May 2025 second warmest on record: EU climate monitor
The planet's average surface temperature dipped below the threshold of 1.5 degree Celsius above preindustrial levels, just shy of the record for May set last year, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The same held for the world's oceans. With a surface temperature of 20.79C, last month was second only to May 2024, with some unprecedented warmth regionally. "Large areas in the northeast North Atlantic, which experienced a marine heatwave, had record surface temperatures for the month," Copernicus reported. "Most of the Mediterranean Sea was much warmer than average." The increasingly dire state of the oceans is front-and-centre at the third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC), which kicked off Monday in Nice, France. Ocean heatwaves are driving marine species to migrate, damaging ecosystems, and reducing the ability of ocean layers to mix, thus hindering the distribution of nutrients. Covering 70 percent of the globe's surface, oceans redistribute heat and play a crucial role in regulating Earth's climate. Surface water warmed by climate change drive increasingly powerful storms, causing new levels of destruction and flooding in their wake. Some parts of Europe, meanwhile, "experienced their lowest levels of precipitation and soil moisture since at least 1979," Copernicus noted. Britain has been in the grips of its most intense drought in decades, with Denmark and the Netherlands also suffering from a lack of rain. 'Brief respite' Earth's surface last month was 1.4C above the preindustrial benchmark, defined as the average temperature from 1850 to 1900, before the massive use of fossil fuels caused the climate to dramatically warm. "May 2025 interrupts an unprecedentedly long sequence of months above 1.5C," noted Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. All but one of the previous 22 months crossed this critical threshold, which marks the 2015 Paris Agreement's most ambitious target for capping global warming. "This may offer a brief respite for the planet, but we expect the 1.5C threshold to be exceeded again in the near future due to the continued warming of the climate system," he added. Over the 12-month period June 2024 to May 2025, warming averaged 1.57C compared to the 1850-1900 benchmark. The Paris treaty target, however, is pegged to a 20-year average, in order to account for the influence of natural variability. The UN's climate science advisory panel, the IPCC, has said there's a 50-percent change of breaching the 1.5C barrier in line with these criteria between 2030 and 2035. Using this method of calculation, the world today has warmed by at least 1.3C. The UN's World Meterological Organization (WMO), meanwhile, has said there's a 70 percent chance the five-year period 2025-2029, on average, will exceed the 1.5C limit. Scientists stress the importance of limiting global warming as soon and as much as possible because every fraction of a degree increases the risks of more deadly and destructive impacts, on land and in the sea. Limiting warming to 1.5C rather than 2C would significantly reduce the most catastrophic consequences, the IPCC concluded in a major report in 2018.
Business Insider
11-06-2025
- Climate
- Business Insider
Sands and thunderstorms induced by African heat set to hit Europe
As recently reported, Europe is set to share in the intensity of Africa's harsh climate conditions, specifically from the Northern part of the African continent. Harsh climate conditions from Northern Africa are impacting parts of Europe, with heatwaves bringing sand and thunderstorms. Regions like Castile and Leon in Spain and northern Portugal have been issued an Amber storm alert. Cities like Rome, London, and Paris are also expected to experience elevated temperatures and variable severe weather. Some parts of Europe are set to receive sand and thunderstorms from the heatwave migrating to the continent from Northern Africa. Castile and Leon in Spain, and northern Portugal are among the regions issued an Amber storm alert on Wednesday. The UK and France are also expected to experience their hottest temperatures further north on Friday. Rome will have peaks of 36°C (97°F), London 27°C, and Paris 31°C. Over the next several days, France and the UK may see lightning, hail, and heavy rain as a result of storm clouds created by the heat pushing moisture high into the atmosphere. According to the UK Met Office, as reported by Bloomberg, the storms could drop up to 40 millimeters (1.6 inches) of rain in a few hours, which is more than half of the total for June of the previous year. 'These storms are going to have to be high energy,' Alex Deakin, a meteorologist with the UK Met Office, said in a forecast briefing. 'They will drop a lot of rain in a short space of time.' MetDesk predicts that powerful storms will sweep up a heavy cloud of Saharan dust, which might cover vehicles and buildings and interfere with solar energy generation. This heat wave follows a period of unstable and wet weather in northwest Europe, which failed to balance off an unusually warm and arid spring. According to a recent assessment from the Copernicus satellite program, rainfall and soil moisture levels in the area have reached historic lows. As Europe prepares for increasingly severe weather patterns caused by North African heat and Saharan dust, it highlights the critical need for adaptive measures, enhanced forecasting, and more investment in climate resilience throughout the continent. According to the statistics, spring river flows in Europe were at their lowest level since 1992, though the southern and parts of northwestern Russia had extremely substantial amounts of rain from March to May.
