The impact of climate change on the water cycle is a growing topic of concern in Europe. 2022 was Europe’s hottest summer on record, and with that heat came widespread droughts.
Countries such as Malta have been warned their drinking water supplies could be under threat, while across the continent there are worries about how changes to the water cycle could affect things like agriculture and industrial cooling.
As we experience more extreme weather events, water is becoming a higher priority for everyone in Europe, and it is essential to understand how to respond to this challenge.
Euronews is bringing together a panel of experts for a Climate Now debate, which will focus on the question: What’s happening to Europe’s water cycle?
The discussion, starting at 17:00 CEST on 26 April, will explore the impact on agriculture and industry, and how we can take steps to mitigate the effects of climate change on the water cycle.
Meet our panelists
Dr Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service
Dr Samantha Burgess is Deputy Director of C3S, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, working to improve understanding of climate related risks. C3S provides open access to climate data globally to inform better decisions-making. Sam has previously focused on environmental resilience, sustainable finance & ocean governance in roles including chief scientific advisor & head of policy in government, in business, NGOs and academia.
Christel Prudhomme, Environmental Forecasts Team Leader of the Evaluation Section, ECMWF
Christel Prudhomme is a Principal Sectoral Expert leading the Environmental Forecasts team in the Evaluation Section of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Her activities focus on the development and operational maintenance and delivery of the Copernicus Emergency Service – Early Warning Systems on floods, the European Flood Awareness System and the Global Flood Awareness Systems. Prior to joining ECMWF in April 2017, Christel worked for over 20 years at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, a research institute of the UK National Environmental Research Council.
Andrea Toreti, PhD, Senior Researcher at the European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC)
In addition to his work at the JRC, Toreti is the coordinator of the European and global drought observatory of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service. His research focuses on climate extremes, climate variability and climate change, including impacts and adaptation, and he has published more than 70 papers on these topics. He is currently a co-chair of the EU ad-hoc Task Group on water scarcity and drought.
Dr Florence Habets, Research Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)
Florence Habets is a research director at CNRS and a professor at the Laboratoire de géologie de l’ENS (CNRS/ENS-PSL unit). A hydroclimatologist, she is interested in the evolution of water resources in France, in particular seasonal forecasts of groundwater resources.
Dr René Orth, Group Leader of Hydrology-Biosphere-Climate Interactions Group at Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Before joining the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Orth was a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich and Stockholm University. He is interested in land surface hydrology and its interactions with near-surface weather, as well as related extreme events such as droughts, heat waves or floods.
2022: A year of drought in Europe
In 2022, the global annual average concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane reached the highest levels ever measured by satellite. Europe meanwhile experienced its hottest summer on record, and temperatures across the continent are rising at twice the global average rate. That’s according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service’s annual European State of the Climate report released this week.
The report details the widespread drought that affected Europe last year, explaining how the winter of 2021-2022 saw fewer snow days than average – with some seeing up to 30 fewer. Rain was then below average in the Spring of 2022, with a record low precipitation in Europe for the month of May.
The lack of winter snow and higher temperatures led to a record loss of ice from glaciers in the Alps. And the summer heatwaves completed this perfect storm to cause widespread – and prolonged – drought that created significant problems for sectors such as agriculture and energy.
Climate change ‘intensifying the water cycle’
According to Water Europe, climate change is “intensifying the water cycle”, bringing about more extreme weather events on the continent including storms and flooding.
The water cycle is the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth, and it involves the evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff and transpiration of water. This all serves to distribute it across the planet, replenishing water sources and maintaining the balance of ecosystems. It’s a critical part of the Earth’s natural systems and plays a vital role in sustaining life on our planet.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that climate change has caused detectable changes in the global water cycle since the mid-20th century. It has repeatedly warned of the increase in the frequency and severity of droughts due to climate change.
So how will this affect us day to day? And what can Europe do to address this? We’ll be discussing all this, and more, during the live debate.
Source: Euro News
