The average temperature in the world in 2022 was 1.2 degrees higher than in the pre-industrial period (1850-1900). This was revealed by the Global Climate Highlights 2022 report by Copernicus, the Earth observation program of the European Union. 2022 is the eighth consecutive year of temperatures more than 1 degree higher than pre-industrial levels. The Paris Agreement on climate expects to keep the temperature below 2 degrees from the 1850-1900 average, and the Glasgow Cop26 lowered this threshold to 1.5 degrees.
Last year’s summer in Europe broke the heat record, which was set for summer 2021. Autumn 2022 was the third warmest on record in Europe, surpassed only by 2020 and 2006. European winter temperatures last year they were about 1 degree above average, placing winter among the 10 warmest. On our continent, 2022 is surpassed only by 2020 for heat, but it precedes 2019, 2015 and 2014. According to Copernicus, Europe’s temperature has increased more than double the global average of the last 30 years, with the rate higher than any other continent in the world. Several countries in western and southern Europe recorded the warmest temperatures since at least 1950. Worldwide, the warmest years so far were 2016, 2020, 2019 and 2017 respectively. The last 8 years were the hottest ever recorded.
CO2 concentration
The average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 2022 was 417 ppm (parts per million), 2.1 ppm higher than the previous year. The average concentration of methane has reached 1894 ppb (parts per billion), 12 ppb higher than in 2021. For both gases, these are the highest concentrations recorded by satellites, and the highest levels for over 2 million years for carbon dioxide, and for over 800,000 years for methane. These are some data always contained in the report.