Greenhouse gas concentrations higher than in all of human civilisation

The latest data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service shows that Europe just had the warmest October on record, with temperatures almost two degrees above the 1991-2020 average.

Those figures for October are part of a much wider trend. Europe is warming much faster than the rest of the planet.

Petteri Taalas, is the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation.

"We have seen more than double warming taking place in Europe as compared to the rest of the world. And that's because of the warming in the Arctic, which has a big impact on the northern part of Europe. And then globally, the second most rapidly warming region is the  Mediterranean region." 

"In the Arctic, the melting of snow and ice is contributing to this warming. And in the Mediterranean region, it's getting drier and drier, so there's not enough evaporation to dampen this warming which is usually taking place." Says Petteri Taalas.

The warming that we are seeing here on land would be even more rapid if it wasn't for the oceans. It's calculated that they are absorbing up to 90% of the excess heat in the atmosphere trapped by greenhouse gases. And they are suffering.

The Mediterranean has suffered repeated heatwaves over the past couple of years and Jean-Pierre Gattuso, the CNRS Research Director, at the Laboratoire D'océanographie De Villefranche-Sur-Mer describes what impact that is having.

"The main effect of marine heat waves is massive mortality of invertebrates and plants, mollusks, sponges, and corals. Between the surface and 50 metres in depth, there are many invertebrates and plants that are affected negatively and die."

But do the decisions that are taken at COP27, make any difference and are they really going to change things like