Report lists 36 climate-related risks in Europe (representative)
A new EU analysis warned on Monday that Europe could suffer “catastrophic” consequences from climate change if it fails to take urgent and decisive action to tackle risks.
In its first report on climate risks facing the continent, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said southern Europe was most at risk.
Dangers include fires, water shortages and their impact on agricultural production, while low-lying coastal areas face threats from flooding, erosion and saltwater intrusion.
“Many of these risks have reached critical levels and could have catastrophic consequences if urgent and decisive action is not taken,” the agency said.
This does not mean that Northern Europe will not be negatively affected, as floods in Germany and forest fires in Sweden have demonstrated in recent years.
“Even under an optimistic global warming scenario, the extreme heat, droughts, wildfires and floods experienced in recent years will worsen in Europe and affect living conditions across the continent,” the EEA warned.
The report lists 36 climate-related risks in Europe, 21 of which require immediate action and eight of which are “particularly urgent.”
Topping the list are risks to ecosystems, primarily related to coastal and marine ecosystems.
For example, a combination of heat waves, ocean acidification and hypoxia, as well as pollution and other anthropogenic factors such as eutrophication (meaning excess nutrients lead to the collapse of aquatic ecosystems) and fishing, threaten marine ecosystems, the report states.
“This could lead to significant losses of biodiversity, including mass mortality events and declines in ecosystem services,” the report said.
The EEA said governments and people across Europe recognized the risks and agreed that more and faster action should be a priority.
“We need to do more and develop stronger policies,” Ila-Mononen stressed.
Despite the warning, the agency also acknowledged that member states have made “considerable progress” in “understanding and preparing for the climate risks they face.”
“These events have become the new normal,” EEA Director Lena Illa-Mononen said at a press conference ahead of the report’s release.
“This should be a wake-up call. The final wake-up call,” she added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
