The impact of global warming in Europe

Europe’s natural ecosystems are generally fragmented and disturbed, making them very sensitive to climate change. Most of Europe experienced temperature increases this century that are larger than the global average, and precipitation generally increased in the north but decreased in the south. The warming is clearly noticeable in mountain regions by the widespread retreat of glaciers in the Alps. Plant and animal species are also apparently responding to the changes by shifting their ranges northward and by changing the timing of their activities to coincide with an earlier spring. The fragmented nature of the European landscape, however, may make it difficult for less adaptive species to respond to continued climatic warming.
For Europe we have many more hotspots than for some other regions of the world, although impact studies have been emerging in larger numbers in recent years from previously under-studied regions. This higher density of early warning signs in Europe is due in part to the fact that these regions have more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change, in part to the disproportionate warming that has been observed over the mid-to-high-latitude continents compared to other regions during the last century, and in part to emphasize the importance of the industrialized countries of Europe taking strong action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.