The Copernicus Climate Change Service has released its annual findings which show that globally 2021 was among the seven warmest on record. Europe experienced a summer of extremes with severe heatwaves in the Mediterranean and floods in central Europe. Meanwhile, global concentrations of carbon dioxide and – very substantially – methane continued to increase.

Within these seven years, 2021 ranks among the cooler years, alongside 2015 and 2018, but Europe experienced its warmest summer on record. In conjunction with the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) it was also confirmed that atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations continued to rise during 2021, with methane reaching an annual record.

Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, noted: "2021 was yet another year of extreme temperatures with the hottest summer in Europe, heatwaves in the Mediterranean, not to mention the unprecedented high temperatures in North America. The last seven years have been the seven warmest on record. These events are a stark reminder of the need to change our ways, take decisive and effective steps toward a sustainable society and work towards reducing net carbon emissions.”

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