It’s a fact: 2018 was one of the three warmest years on record for Europe. This is what the recently published European State of the Climate Report , compiled by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reveals. CLS, expert in satellite altimetry data and ocean observations, contributed important information on sea level rise, a key climate change indicator, to this report.
Spotlight on Europe’s climate
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by ECMWF, combines observations of the climate system with the latest scientific research to develop authoritative, quality-assured information about past, current and future states of the climate in Europe and worldwide.
One of C3S’s missions is to compile the yearly State of the Climate report based the latest satellite and in-situ measurements, as well as reanalysis and model data. Within C3S, CLS is in charge of the provision of ocean climate data records including sea level, sea surface temperature (SST), sea ice and ocean color.
CLS, international expert on sea level rise
CLS experts have contributed to the ‘Sea level’ (https://climate.copernicus.eu/sea-level) section of this document, based on the CNES/CLS DUACS (https://duacs.cls.fr/ ) altimeter production system.
Sea level is one of the main climate indicators explored in this report, along with greenhouse gases, surface temperatures, sea ice and glaciers.
The report finds that in the past 25 years, across Europe, mean sea level has increased by 2-4 mm/year in most coastal areas. It also attributes 30% of global sea level rise to ocean thermal expansion and 70% to land ice melt.
25 years of altimetry data for climate record
CLS experts, along with other international scientists, have worked to calibrate, validate, process, reprocess a 25-year record of satellite altimetry data for climate science, physical oceanography and hydrology.
Read the European State of the Climate Report 2018: https://climate.copernicus.eu/ESOTC
About CLS:
CLS is a contributor to C3S and is also involved in the production of the Ocean Monitoring Indicators and the yearly Ocean State Report of the Copernicus Marine service.
About Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S):
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) implemented by ECMWF combines observations of the climate system with the latest scientific research to develop authoritative, quality-assured information about past, current and future states of the climate in Europe and worldwide. C3S provides authoritative information about the past, present and future climate, as well as tools to enable climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies by policy makers and businesses.
