Boiling point: The average temperature in Sweden has jumped 1.9C since the 19th century
Climate change and global warming are affecting temperature readings around the world, creating increasingly sharp and worrying extreme effects on Earth’s weather, from record-breaking heat waves to unprecedented storms. The latest example of the effects of the climate crisis has come out of Sweden as a new report on the Nordic country’s climate change revealed that the region’s average temperature has risen almost 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since the late 19th century and more precipitation.
According to the report from the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), the average temperature in the country was 1.9 degrees Celsius higher during the period between 1991 and 2020 compared to the period between 1861 and 1890.
The SMHI noted that the observed change was about double the change in global mean temperatures over the same period.
The Weather Agency said that such an extensive analysis had not previously been carried out where as many different indicators of climate change were looked at.
“The result of the analysis clearly shows that Sweden’s climate has changed,” says Semjon Schimanke, climatologist and project manager at SMHI, in a statement.
“The warmer climate with more precipitation in Sweden closely follows the observed global warming that is a result of human climate influence,” added Erik Kjellström, professor of climatology at SMHI.
Not all observational series covered the same time frame, the weather bureau said, noting that rainfall had increased since 1930, from about 600 millimeters (23.6 inches) to nearly 700 millimeters from the year 2000 onwards.
However, the snow cover during the winter around the country had decreased by 16 days on average for the period between 1991 and 2020 compared to the period between 1961 and 1990.
SMHI emphasized that the observations were averaged over a year, and said the picture became more complex when “examining smaller regions or different seasons.”
“For example, the increase in precipitation is mainly related to increased precipitation in autumn and winter, while there are no obvious trends in spring and summer,” SMHI said, adding that “changes in the extremes are generally more difficult to identify.”
The report comes at the same time as the UN climate summit COP27 ended in Egypt over the weekend.
While the summit resulted in a landmark agreement on funding to help vulnerable countries deal with climate impacts, it also led to criticism and frustration over the failure to be more ambitious in reducing emissions.