The meteorological spring will conclude next week. Here in Luxembourg, the season was surprisingly wet, but that actually benefited nature. Other places in Europe experienced extreme weather phenomena, such as wildfires in Spain or floods in the north of Italy.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there is a correlation between the rise in extreme weather events and climate change. The Panel forecasts that temperatures will have risen by an average of 1.5°C by 2050.
This estimate is based on a projection by which global CO2 emissions have been reduced by half by 2030. If this is not the case however, the Panel expects temperatures to rise by 2°C.
Preparations for a rise in temperatures are already underway in Luxembourg’s forests as authorities have started planting different trees. Farmers will also have to change their usual strategies and become more flexible when it comes to harvesting, says climatologist and head of the ASTA meteorological service Andrew Ferrone.
In conversation with RTL, he noted that winters have also become overly warm and dry. A lack of snow further means smaller water reserves: “This has to do with the rise in temperatures. That is partially a problem because reserves cannot be built. This is an issue in the Alps, for instance, where glaciers are melting and certain rivers no longer have water in summer.”
Ferrone pointed out that far-reaching consequences can already be observed around the globe, citing melting glaciers in the Alps as one example.
