Record Heat, Rain Marks Europe’s 2020 

PARIS - As President Biden hosts a virtual climate summit this Earth Day, a report out Thursday adds more fuel to the planet’s growing crisis, showing record-breaking temperatures in Europe and Arctic Siberia last year. It comes as the European Union announced a key climate deal and financing rules — both sharply criticized by green groups. The findings of the European Union’s climate monitoring service, Copernicus, are grim. Europe was hit by record heat and rainfall last year. The Arctic overall saw its second warmest year. Both regions are warming faster than the global average.  

“Europe has probably warmed at twice the rate compared to the globe since the pre-industrial [time]. Whereas the rate of warming in the arctic over the last two decades, have been at least five [times] that of the global rate,”  says Freja Vamborg,  a senior scientist at Copernicus, and lead author of the latest Europe climate report.  “Especially Arctic Siberia was by far the warmest on record last year, which had local impacts on sea ice, which in turn had an impact on temperatures.”  Thursday’s report brings new impetus for action during the Biden administration’s two-day climate summit — especially for the European Union, long considered a climate leader.   The 27-country bloc reached a tentative deal Wednesday to make its climate goals legally binding. The EU aims to slash greenhouse gasses by at least 55 percent by 2030 — up from its previous 40 percent goal — and become climate neutral by 2050.