Climate Change Already Felt in Europe: Report (Photos)

Tourists walk on footbridges during flooding on Nov. 11 in Venice. Rain and wind hit the north of Italy on Sunday and the flood waters rose nearly 5 feet (150 centimeters) in Venice. (Marco Sabadin/AFP/Getty Images)

The past decade in Europe has been the warmest on record. In a report the European Environment Agency, or EEA, said that the effects of climate change have already begun to affect Europe, and the effects will only become more severe in the future.

Tourists sit at a cafe terrace on a flooded St Mark's square during a storm on Oct. 27, 2012 in Venice. (Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images)

A car passes abandoned cars left on a flooded road close to the village of North Curry on Nov. 21, 2012 near Taunton, England. Heavy rain overnight has brought widespread disruption to many parts of the U.K. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Arthur Dziewicki looks at the flood water lapping at the front door of his cottage that has been flooded close to the village of North Curry on Nov. 21, 2012 in England. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

This picture shows a view of a sport center flooded near the Tiber river on November 14, 2012 in Rome. (Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images)

The report said that there have been higher average temperatures across Europe along with decreasing rainfall in southern regions and increasing rainfall in northern Europe.

Regarding climate change, the agency said that if Europe does not adapt, the damage costs will increase.

A fireman and a cleaner works outside the flooded International Olympic Committee headquarters on November 11, 2012 in Lausanne. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)

This picture taken on Nov. 6, 2012 shows the Markovci dam, across the flooded Drava river, in Markovci in Slovenia. (Jure Makovec/AFP/Getty Images)

“This means that every part of the economy, including households, needs to adapt as well as reduce emissions,” Jacqueline McGlade, the head of the EEA, said in a statement.

The report said that the damage caused by extreme weather has increased from $11.5 billion in the 1980s to $16.6 billion euros in the 2000s.

“We know that the main increase in damage costs from natural disasters has not been from climate change, as such, but more as a result of an increase in wealth, people and infrastructure in risk areas,” Andre Jol, the head of the EEA’s adaptation group, told the BBC.

“But one of the key messages from the report is that in the future, with projected increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme events, we know that climate change will contribute to the increase in the cost of damage from extreme events,” Jol added.

A picture taken on July 3, 2009, shows Ice Fjord of Ilulissat in Greenland. (Slim Allagui/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture taken on Sept. 28, 2011 shows the site where the water is pumped out of the Tete Rousse glacier above the French Alps town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. Experts have warned that the 65,000 cubic meters (2.3 million cubic feet) of water that has collected inside the glacier could burst, potentially destroying the 900 homes and other structures in the region. (Jean-Pierre Clatot/AFP/Getty Images)

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• searchingfortruth

  Let us start from the beginning. “Man made climate change” also known as “man made global
  warming” caused by humans driving cars and cows farting in the grazing fields
  is a MAN MADE HOAX. We could end that Global Hoax overnight if we stop giving
  money to these con men. Those scam artists get billions of dollars a year of
  tax money from West European countries and the US. The Chinese and the Russians
  are too smart to give that extortion money. As long as they are getting that money the
  hoax will go on. For those of you naïve enough to believe this nonsense, let me
  challenge you to tell me how trading in carbon credits, selling and buying of
  carbon allotments for each country, prevents global warming.?

  The confusion stems from lack of any knowledge by the
  politicians (who for the most part come from the bottom of graduating classes)
  of simple terms and facts about climate. The primary cause of warming or
  cooling is the sun. If you don’t believe it then you better find a better
  explanation for the seasonal changes in our climate. Based on sun’s activity,
  the earth has experienced cycles of warming and cooling of as many as 100
  to300,000 years. Within these cycles shorter period of 10 to 20,000 occur. Temperature is never constant. But,
  within these shorter periods of change, there are eveshorter periods of 1,000
  years or less, which are influenced bynatural phenomena on earth such as el Ninio, el-Ninia, volcanic eruptions onthe surface as well in the depths of the oceans. That is what our planet is all
  about.

  But, let me offer the believers a deal that they cannot refuse. I personally will stop “Man Made Global Warming” if the West European countries and the US give me one billion dollars a year. That is a saving of over $100 billion for the industrialized counties. That, is exactly what Al Gore is selling you and you people are giving him the money. Al is a con artist. I want some of some of that money.

• Vivienne Murray

  Human induced climate change(CC) Is the direct result of the burning of fossil (read: fossil) fuels at an industrial scale since the onset of the industrial revolution.

  I would strongly suggest that if people want to gain a perspective on CC based on fact, reading the summaries of the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) report would be a good start.

  And if someone, anyone, is making claims either way on the subject – ask them for a reference for what they are saying. If they cannot provide you with a peer reviewed reference, anything they say can be hence taken as their opinion only. Unless and until they can produce a scientifically verifiable study to back up their claims – what they say on the matter cannot reasonably be taken as fact.