Strong heat waves in Europe as a whole confirmed that 2022 was the second warmest June on record,
with temperatures above average of around 1.6 degrees;
Extreme temperatures occurred in
Spain, France and Italy.
Globally, this year was the third warmest month on record.
This was announced by Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) implemented by the European Center for Medium-Term Meteorological Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission.
In particular, the average global temperature last June was 0.31 degrees Celsius higher than the average recorded between 1991 and 2020 and above-average temperatures were also recorded in China, Japan and the United States.
Colder than average temperatures were found in Greenland and most of South America,
explains a note from the Copernicus service specifying that "although these heat waves in areas of Europe and Asia are out of the ordinary, these are not unexpected events. In line with the data presented in the latest IPCC Assessment Report, there is an increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves: a growth, according to the IPCC (the intergovernmental panel of climate change experts), to be attributed to human-caused climate change and destined to increase in the future due to warming global".
Southwestern Europe, after experiencing the first warm period in the second half of May, was hit by a further period of exceptionally high temperatures four weeks later, peaking on June 17, Copernicus recalls.
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These periods are in stark contrast to the exceptionally cold temperatures recorded in the region in early April 2022 and to the less pronounced lows recorded in Spain in the same month.
Copernicus Climate Change Service director Carlo Buontempo said: "Heat waves - increasingly frequent and strong - are expected in the coming years, similar to those seen in Europe and beyond this year. It is of particular importance to make data public. reliable, so as to allow anyone to monitor these trends and better prepare for what lies ahead ".
C3S accepted the recommendation of the World eteorological Organization (Wmo) to refer to the most recent period of the last 30 years for the calculation of climatic averages.