Last year, with Covid dominating the headlines, was also Europe’s hottest year ever; worldwide it matched the 2016 world record. According to the EU’s Copernicus Project report, in fact, the 2010 decade was the hottest ever.
Despite the hotter-than-usual weather, which resulted in a wider range of large-scale fires, including in Australia and in Arctic regions, there was a small drop, about 7% in carbon emissions, which was attributed to reduced travel, especially air travel.
The Copernicus Project is a joint project of the EU and the European Space Agency, aimed at observing the environment, especially using satellite data, to better understand environmental changes and their causes.
