A report by the E.U.
Copernicus Climate-Change Service in 2024 contains the finding that “Europe is
the continent with the fastest-rising temperatures on Earth, having warmed
twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s.”[1]
In spite of “fastest-rising” and “twice as fast” are alarming expressions, no
such corresponding sense of urgency had translated into a political will
capable of pushing through game-changing legislation and regulations in the
European Union. The short-term financial interests of industry, cost-conscious
consumers, workers not wanting to be laid off, and taxpayers would pale in
comparison were a sense of emergency to take hold the domain of politics. “Weak”
states (i.e., governments) that are not willing or even able to resist short-term
political pressures from an electorate exacerbate the problem even in the midst
of climate change, which scientists decades earlier had predicted would really
begin to move the needle on air-temperatures globally in the 2020s (and just
wait until the oceans become saturated with CO2!). You ain’t seen
nothin yet may be the mantra for the 2030s.
The full essay is at "Climate Change in Europe."
1. David O’Sullivan, “Firefighters Battle Wildfires in Greece and Turkey, Prompting Evacuations and Emergency Response,” Euronews.com, July 4, 2025.
