Climate Change Is Changing Weather in Croatia
Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, and Croatia faces record heatwaves and rising sea levels.
Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, and Croatia faces record heatwaves and rising sea levels.
The average global air temperature in 2023 was the highest since records began, reaching 1.45°C above pre-industrial levels. This temperature rise directly affects weather patterns worldwide, including in Croatia, where the impacts are increasingly visible in daily life.
The summer of 2023 in Croatia was marked by record heatwaves with temperatures exceeding 40°C in the interior. This led to increased energy consumption for cooling and numerous health issues, especially among the elderly and chronically ill. Extreme heat is becoming more frequent and intense, which experts link to climate change.
Croatia is heavily dependent on tourism and agriculture, both of which directly rely on weather conditions. Droughts and heatwaves reduce agricultural yields while also altering the tourist season. Rising sea levels threaten coastal areas, particularly Dalmatia and the islands, which in the long term could jeopardize tourism infrastructure and settlements.
El Niño and La Niña are natural climate phenomena that significantly influence global weather patterns, causing droughts in Australia and floods in South America. In Croatia, the meteorological service DHMZ uses advanced models for weather forecasting, but the accuracy of long-term forecasts remains limited to a few days ahead. New technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are improving forecasts and enabling earlier warnings for extreme events. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has reported a fivefold increase in weather-related natural disasters over the past 50 years.
