Why Is Europe Warming Twice as Fast as the Rest of the World?

Europe is heating up faster than almost anywhere else on Earth. Over the last 30 years, temperatures there have risen more than twice as fast as the world average. Two powerful heatwaves in May and June pushed temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius in parts of France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Scientists say the problem is getting worse, and millions of people are feeling the effects.

A heat dome helped cause those record-breaking temperatures. A heat dome is an area of high pressure that sits over a region and traps warm air underneath, like a lid on a pot. These conditions arrived earlier than usual, well before the hottest part of summer. Forecasters warn that months of unusual heat could still be ahead, possibly made worse by El Niño, a weather pattern that can raise temperatures around the world.

So why is Europe warming so fast? According to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, temperatures in Europe have risen by about 0.56 degrees Celsius every ten years. Only the Arctic has warmed more quickly. The main cause of rising global temperatures is greenhouse gases released by human activity, such as burning fossil fuels. But Europe has a few extra reasons why it is warming even faster.

One reason is a change in wind patterns. Shifts in the atmosphere are sending more hot air from the south across Europe, which leads to more heatwaves. Another surprising reason is that Europe has done a good job of cleaning up air pollution. Stricter rules in the 1980s reduced the number of tiny pollution particles floating in the air. Those particles used to reflect some of the sun's energy back into space, helping to keep things cooler.

Snow and ice also reflect sunlight, but Europe's snow and ice are shrinking. When ice melts, the darker ground underneath absorbs more heat instead of bouncing it away. Parts of the Arctic, including the Norwegian islands of Svalbard, are actually considered part of Europe. Those areas are warming very fast, which raises Europe's overall average temperature even more.

Extreme heat is dangerous for people. It can cause heat stress, which brings on symptoms like dizziness, nausea, and muscle cramps. In serious cases, it leads to heatstroke, which can damage the brain, heart, and kidneys. High humidity makes it feel even hotter because sweat does not evaporate as easily to cool the body down. There were more than 200,000 heat-related deaths in Europe over the past four years, according to the World Health Organization.

Hot nights are also a growing problem. Heatwaves are causing more tropical nights, when temperatures stay above 20 degrees Celsius all night long. It becomes hard to sleep, and the lack of rest can hurt a person's ability to think clearly. It also raises the long-term risk of heart disease. When the body cannot cool down at night, it is less able to handle the heat the next day.

Heatwaves also put pressure on the power supply. When it gets hot, people turn on fans and air conditioners, causing electricity demand to spike. Nuclear power plants in France sometimes have to slow down during heatwaves because the rivers used to cool their reactors become too warm. When clean energy sources produce less power, dirtier and more expensive fossil fuel plants may need to step in.

High heat can buckle railway tracks and melt road surfaces. It worsens droughts, shrinks water supplies, and dries out soil and plants, raising the risk of wildfires. When heavy rain arrives on baked, dry ground, flash flooding can occur because the soil cannot soak up water fast enough. Insurance company Allianz estimates that heat-related economic losses could reach 5 to 7 percent of GDP for major European economies between 2026 and 2030.

Europe is not well prepared for this level of heat. Many buildings in northern and western Europe were designed to keep warmth in during cold winters, not to stay cool in summer. Only about 20 percent of homes across Europe have air conditioning, compared to about 90 percent in the United States. Some cities like Paris, Madrid, and Barcelona have opened cooling shelters in libraries and parks, but experts say much more needs to be done to keep people safe.