Europe's regions are facing rising sea levels and more extreme weather, such as more frequent and more intense heatwaves, flooding, droughts and storms due to climate change, according to a report from the European Environment Agency.
Its assessment found that precipitation patterns were changing, generally making wet regions in Europe wetter and dry regions drier. Glacier volume and snow cover were decreasing.
At the same time, the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, heavy precipitation and droughts were increasing in many regions.
Improved climate projections provide further evidence that climate-related extremes would increase in many European regions, the agency concluded.
'Climate change will continue for many decades to come,’ said the agency’s executive director Hans Bruyninckx.
‘The scale of future climate change and its impacts will depend on the effectiveness of implementing our global agreements to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but also ensuring that we have the right adaptation strategies and policies in place to reduce the risks from current and projected climate extremes,’ he said.
