CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS AND VULNERABILITIES STAKEHOLDERS

• Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland
• AEA Technology, United Kingdom
• Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), Norway
• Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH), Germany
• Catalan Office for Climate Change, Spain
• Centre for Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (ZMAW), Germany
• Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC) and Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Italy
• Climate Change Group of the European Network of Heads of Nature Conservation Agencies;
• Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS), France
• Czech Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection, Czech Republic
• Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB), Norway
• Directorate for Nature Management, Norway
• DIVERSITAS, France
• EAHC
• ECDC
• EPA Interest Group on Climate and Adaptation
• ESPON Climate
• EUMETNET
• European Academy of Bolzen/Bolzano (EURAC), Italy
• European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
• European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF))
• European Commission DG AGRI
• European Commission, DG CLIMA
• European Commission, DG ENV
• European Commission, DG MARE
• European Commission, JRC
• European Commission, DG REGIO
• European Commission, DG RTD
• European Environment Agency (EEA)
• European Topic Centre on Biodiversity (ETC/BD)
• European Topic Centre on Climate Change impacts, vulnerability and Adaptation (ETC/CCA)
• European Topic Centre on Inland, Coastal and Marine waters (ETC/ICM)
• Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Germany
• Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU), Switzerland
• Forestry Research, United Kingdom
• Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI), Germany
• Free University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• Gent University, Belgium
• Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
• Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer (IFREMER), France
• IPCC Working Group II; London School Of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), United Kingdom
• Institute for Environmental Studies, the Netherlands
• Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Italy
• John Kennedy (Met Office Hadley Centre (MOHC), United Kingdom
• Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability (JRC/IES)
• LeefmiliEU Natuur en Energie (LNE), Belgium
• Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP), United Kingdom
• Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, France
• Munich RE, Germany
• Natural England, United Kingdom
• Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), the Netherlands
• Newcastle University, United Kingdom).
• Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR), Norway
• Norwegian Meteorological Institute (METNO), Norway
• Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway
• Paul Watkiss Associates (PWA), United Kingdom
• Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany
• Programme of Research on Climate Change Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation (PROVIA) University College London (UCL), United Kingdom
• Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), Netherlands
• Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS), United Kingdom
• Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Sweden
• Technical University of Dortmund (TU Dortmund), Germany
• The James Hutton Institute, United Kingdom
• University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
• University of Bologna, EEA Scientific Committee, Italy
• University of Cambridge, EEA Scientific Committee, United Kingdom
• University of Florence, Italy
• University of Oxford, United Kingdom
• University of Valencia, Spain
• University of Zürich, Switzerland
• VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finland
• World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO/ Europe)

Observed Impacts of Climate Change  

• Coasts and European seas: overall rise in sea levels globally and across most of Europe's coasts (with variations due to local land movement and other factors); increase in ocean acidification; increase in sea surface temperature and ocean heat content; earlier seasonal appearance of various marine species; northward expansion of some fish and plankton species.
• Freshwater systems: decrease in river flows in southern and eastern Europe (in particular in summer) and increase in other regions (in particular in winter); increases in the reported number of flood events (mainly due to land‑use changes and better reporting); increase in the frequency and intensity of droughts (in particular in southern Europe); increase in water temperature in rivers and lakes; northwards movement of cold-water species; earlier seasonal appearance of phytoplankton and zooplankton blooms.
• Terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystems: earlier occurrence of spring seasonal events and later occurrence of autumn seasonal events in plants and animals; lengthening of breeding seasons; northwards and uphill movement of many plant and animal species, but the migration rate of many species is insufficient to keep pace with the speed of climate change; establishment of warm-adapted alien plant species; many habitats of European interest (EU Habitats Directive) are potentially threatened by climate change over their natural range in Europe.
• Agriculture: northward expansion of areas suitable for several crops; earlier flowering and harvest dates in cereals; reduced yield of some crops due to heat waves and droughts (mostly in central and southern Europe), but increased yields of other crops (mostly in northern Europe); increased water demand for irrigation (in southern and south-western Europe).
• Forests and forestry: reduction in forest growth due to storms, pests and diseases in some central and western areas of Europe; increase in the number of forest fires in the Mediterranean region between 1980 and 2000 and a decrease thereafter.
• Energy: reduced demand for heating (particularly in northern and north-western Europe) but increased demand for cooling (particularly in southern Europe).
• Human health: tens of thousands of premature deaths due to the extreme 2003 summer heat‑wave; thousands of premature deaths per year due to tropospheric ozone (but the contribution of climate change is difficult to quantify); increased number of people affected by river and coastal flooding; northward and upward movement of tick species and related increased risk of transmission of vector-borne diseases.

Key observed and projected climate change and impacts for the main regions of Europe

Artic

• Temperature rise much larger than global average
• Decrease in Artic sea ice coverage
• Decrease in Greeland ice sheet
• Decrease in permafrost areas
• Increase risk of biodiversity loss
• Intensified shipping and exploitation of oil and gas resources

North-Western Europe

• Increase in winter precipitation
• Increase in river flow
• Northward movement of species
• Decrease in energy demand for heating
• Increasing risk of river and coastal flooding

Coastal Zones and Regional Seas

• Sea-level rise
• Increase in sea surface temperatures
• Increase in ocean acidity
• Northward expansion of fish and plankton species
• Changes in phytoplankton communities
• Increasing risk for fish stocks

Northern Europe

• Temperature rise much larger than global average
• Decrease in snow, lake and river ice cover
• Increase in river flows
• Northward movement of species
• Increase in crop yields
• Decrease in energy demand for heating
• Increase in hydropower potential
• Increasing damage risk from winter storms
• Increase in summer tourism

Mountain Areas

• Temperature rise larger than European average
• Decrease in glacier extent and volume
• Decrease in mountain permafrost areas
• Upward shift of plant and animal species
• High risk of species extinction in Alpine regions
• Increasing risk of soil erosion
• Decrease in ski tourism

Central and Eastern Europe

• Increase in warm temperature extremes
• Decrease in summer precipitation
• Increase in water temperature
• Increasing risk of forest fire
• Decrease in economic value of forests

Mediterranean Region

• Temperature rise larger than European average
• Decrease in annual precipitation
• Decrease in annual river flow
• Increasing riks of biodiversity loss
• Increasing risk of desertification
• Increasing water demand for agriculture
• Decrease in crop yields
• Increasing risk of forest fire
• Increase in mortality from heat waves
• Expansion of habitats for southern disease vectors
• Decrease in hydropower potential
• Decrease in summer tourism and potential increase in other seasons