The year 2022 is already the hottest “never measured in France since the beginning of the surveys in 1900, announced Wednesday Météo-France, which estimates that it is the” symptom of climate change in France “.
According to the different assumptions for December, the annual temperature for the whole of 2022 will be between 14.2 degrees Celsius (cold December) and 14.6 degrees (warm December). Far ahead of the previous record of 2020 with 14.07 degrees.
The year was marked by several heat episodes: three waves this summer (June 15 to 19, July 12 to 25 and July 31 to August 13), i.e. a record 33 days, and two out of season (in May and late october). ” All months of the year were warmer than normal except January and April “, underlines Météo-France in a note.
These extraordinary heat events were accompanied by numerous extreme events, such as a “ historic drought “, forest fires, particularly in Gironde (south-west) and in regions usually little or not prone to this type of phenomenon such as Brittany (west), ocean heat waves in the Mediterranean and violent storms such as the one in Corsica ( southeast) on August 18 which caused five deaths.
” The year 2022 will become “normal” in the middle of the 21st century »
Annual rainfall is expected to show an average deficit of 15 to 25% compared to normal, with two record months in May (60% deficit) and July (-85%), which are the driest since the start of measurements. in 1959. The driest year in France remains 1989, with a deficit of 25%.
For the June heat wave, this heat wave would have been 10 times less likely to occur without human-caused climate change.
Agathe Drouin, climatologist at Météo France
According to Météo-France, high temperatures have become more frequent in recent years: eight of the ten hottest years since the beginning of the 20th century are after 2010. This warming is favored by the human-caused climate change. Thus, the summer heat waves of 2022 would have been “ highly unlikely and significantly less intense without the effect of climate change “, indicates the public body. ” Very hot in the current climate, the year 2022 will become “normal” in the middle of the 21st century “, concludes Meteo France.
(With AFP)