Ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss have been evident across Europe since 1950, mainly due to land use and overfishing; however, climate change is becoming a key threat. The unprecedented pace of environmental change has already surpassed the natural adaptive capability of many species, communities and ecosystems in Europe. For instance, the space available for some land ecosystems has shrunk, especially in Europe's polar and mountain areas, due to warming and thawing of permafrost. Across Europe, heatwaves and droughts, and their impacts such as wildfires, add further acute pressures, as seen in the 2018 heatwave, which impacted forest ecosystems and their services. In the Mediterranean Sea, plants and animals cannot shift northward and are negatively affected by marine heatwaves. Food-web dynamics of European ecosystems are disrupted as climate change alters the timing of biological processes, such as spawning and migration of species, and ecosystem composition. Moreover, warming fosters the immigration of invasive species that compete with-and can even out-compete-the native flora and fauna.
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report