This was announced by the EU climate change service Copernicus on Tuesday. Accordingly, the average temperatures were almost two degrees above the average of the reference period from 1991 to 2020. Daily records were set in the west of the continent. At the national level, Austria, Switzerland and France have not had such warm Octobers so far.
This also applied to large parts of Italy and Spain. October 2022 was also warmer than average outside of Europe, with record temperatures being measured in Canada. It was also unusually mild in Greenland and Siberia. On the other hand, it was colder than average in Australia, in the extreme east of Russia and in parts of Antarctica.
The extent of the Arctic sea ice was nine percent below average, but was still significantly larger than in the year of the negative record of 2020. The sea ice cover in Antarctica was 4 percent below average, the smallest in only four other years before.
“The serious consequences of climate change are very visible today”
In view of the values, Copernicus Deputy Director Samantha Burgess called for decisive action at the UN climate change conference COP27, which is currently taking place in Egypt. “The severe consequences of climate change are very visible today and we need ambitious climate action at COP27 to ensure emissions are reduced to stabilize temperatures close to the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees,” Burgess said according to notification.
The Copernicus records go back to 1979. The climate change service also uses data from ground stations, balloons, airplanes and satellites going back to 1950. Data on temperatures, sea ice cover and other aspects are published monthly using computer analysis.
Source: Nachrichten
