Europe 'must act to head off disasters'.
The Metro, UK - 19 August, 2004.
EUROPE must take action to prevent extreme weather disasters, experts warned yesterday. Storms, floods and droughts have become more frequent because of global warming but countries are not doing enough to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the European Environment Agency claimed. The masses of Alpine glaciers were reduced by a tenth in 2003 and carbon dioxide is now at its highest level in the atmosphere for 420,000 years, it claimed. Crop harvests in many southern European countries were down by as much as 30 per cent last year.
Prof Jacqueline McGlade said the continent was warming faster than the global average. She added: ‘Europe has to lead world efforts to cut emissions and strategies are needed at European, regional, national and local level.’
Serious flooding in 11 countries in 2002 killed 80 people, affected more than 600,000 and caused economic losses of £10billion.
In 2003 a heatwave in western and southern Europe caused more than 20,000 deaths.
Friends Of The Earth said: ‘Our Prime Minister must convince his fellow world leaders that climate change is as big a threat to people and the planet as terrorism.’