Punctuated by climatic extremes, 2022 is a “symptom” of climate change, indicates Météo-France. Exceptional in the current climate, it could become “normal” in 2050.
Hottest Year of France
Until the last day, the whole range of superlatives will have been summoned to try to qualify an “exceptional” and above all “dramatic” year in terms of climate. Météo-France confirms it, Friday January 6: 2022 ranks as the hottest year ever recorded in France since the beginning of the records, in 1900. The twelve months, ending with a New Year’s Eve night at temperatures record, have been punctuated by multiple disasters – heat waves, fires, droughts, floods. An exceptional situation which will become the norm around 2050 under the effect of the climate crisis, if greenhouse gas emissions are not greatly reduced.
The Temperature Reached 14.5°C Nationwide
The temperature reached 14.5°C nationwide for the whole year, 0.4°C higher than the previous record in 2020. “It is huge. Usually, when you break a record, it’s by little. This time, it’s as if we had climbed four steps at once, ”explains Christine Berne, climatologist at Météo-France.
Month after month, the heat offered little respite and no part of the territory was spared. The country suffocated under three heat waves – an exceptional duration of thirty-three days of heat wave – during the summer, the second hottest behind 2003. Many temperature records were shattered, mainly on the west facade, where many cities have exceeded 40°C, including in Brittany. The temperature anomalies recorded between May and August would have been almost impossible without climate change, which made them about 500 times more likely but also much more intense.
This article is originally published on lemonde.fr
