NAPLES, Italy (AP) — Europe is the fastest-warming continent and its temperatures are rising at roughly twice the global average, two top climate monitoring organizations reported Monday, warning of the consequences for human health, glacier melt and economic activity.
The U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization and the European Union's climate agency, Copernicus, said in a joint report that the continent has the opportunity to develop targeted strategies to speed up the transition to renewable resources like wind, solar and hydroelectric power in response to the effects of climate change.
The continent generated 43% of its electricity from renewable resources last year, up from 36% the year before, the agencies say in their European State of the Climate report for last year. More energy in Europe was generated from renewables than from fossil fuels for the second year running.
The latest five-year averages show that temperatures in Europe are now running 2.3 degrees Celsius (4.1 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, compared to 1.3 degrees Celsius higher globally, the report says — just shy of the targets under the 2015 Paris climate accord to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“Europe saw yet another year of increasing temperatures and intensifying climate extremes — including heat stress with record temperatures, wildfires, heat waves, glacier ice loss and lack of snowfall,” said Elisabeth Hamdouch, the deputy head of unit for Copernicus at the EU’s executive commission.
The report serves up a continental complement for WMO's flagship state of the global climate report, which has been published annually for three decades, and this year came with a “red alert” warning that the world isn't doing enough to fight the consequences of global warming.
Copernicus has reported that March marked the 10th straight month of record monthly temperatures. The average sea-surface temperature for the ocean across Europe hit its highest annual level in 2023, the Europe report said.
The European report focuses this year on the impact of high temperatures on human health, noting that deaths related to heat have risen across the continent. It said more than 150 lives were lost directly last year in connection with storms, floods and wildfires.
The cost of weather- and climate-related economic losses in 2023 were estimated at more than 13.4 billion euros (about $14.3 billion).
“Hundreds of thousands of people were affected by extreme climate events in 2023, which have been responsible for large losses at continental level, estimated to be at least in the tens of billions of euros,” said Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo.
Extreme weather fanned heat waves, wildfires, droughts and flooding, the report said. High temperatures have contributed to a loss of glacier ice on the continent, including in the Alps — which have lost about 10% of their remaining glacier ice over the last two years.
Still, the report’s authors pointed to some exceptions, such as how temperatures were below average in Scandinavia and Iceland even if the mercury was higher than average across much of the continent as a whole.
FILE - A narrow boat sits in the floods of the river Thames in Oxford, England, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. Britain was hit by heavy rainfall last week following storm Henk, which led to flooding in parts of the UK. Europe is the fastest-warming continent and its temperatures are rising at roughly twice the global average, two top climate monitoring organizations reported Monday, April 22, 2024, warning of the consequences for human health, glacier melt and economic activity. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
FILE - People relax in the Retiro park in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. Copernicus has reported that March marked the 10th straight month of record monthly temperatures. Europe is the fastest-warming continent and its temperatures are rising at roughly twice the global average, two top climate monitoring organizations reported Monday, April 22, 2024, warning of the consequences for human health, glacier melt and economic activity. (AP Photo/Paul White, File)
FILE - A lake of meltwater has formed on the tongue of the Rhone Glacier near Goms, Switzerland, on June 13, 2023. Europe is the fastest-warming continent and its temperatures are rising at roughly twice the global average, two top climate monitoring organizations reported Monday, April 22, 2024, warning of the consequences for human health, glacier melt and economic activity. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
FILE - Burnt trees and a car after yesterday's fire in Mandra, west of Athens, on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. Europe is the fastest-warming continent and its temperatures are rising at roughly twice the global average, two top climate monitoring organizations reported Monday, April 22, 2024, warning of the consequences for human health, glacier melt and economic activity. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)
McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Jake Knapp is spending his weekends much differently now as a rookie on the PGA Tour, just more than two years after working security at a restaurant in his hometown that was also a late-night hotspot.
A first-time Tour winner earlier this year, Knapp went into this weekend leading the CJ Cup Byron Nelson after a second consecutive 7-under 64 on Friday. At 14-under 128, he was a stroke ahead of Troy Merritt (62) and first-round leader Matt Wallace (66), and two ahead of Kelly Kraft (66).
“Even when I was doing any of that stuff, I always knew this was what I wanted to do, and felt like it’s where I should be. Just wasn’t there yet,” Knapp said. “Just kept working away and sticking at it."
Merritt closed is season-low round with an eagle at the 531-yard ninth hole, where he hit his approach to 16 feet and made that putt. He had birdied four of the previous six holes.
Wallace finished on the same par 5 later in the day, and saved par after driving into a native area and then chunking a shot from there to under a bridge.
Hometown favorite Jordan Spieth, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 20, shot a 70 to finish at 4-under 138 and miss the cut by two strokes. On the 16th, his wayward drive ricocheted off the elbow of a male spectator back into the fairway. He still bogeyed the hole, then parred his last two.
Defending champion Jason Day closed his round with a 35-foot par putt for a 70, and was just on the cut line at 6-under 136.
Kris Kim, a 16-year-old from England, made the cut in his PGA Tour debut, shooting 68-67 to enter the weekend 7 under. His South Korean-born mother played on the LPGA Tour in the 1990s. He is the first amateur sponsored by South Korean Company CJ Group, the first-year sponsor of the Nelson, and is playing on a sponsor exemption.
Spieth was a 16-year-old amateur at the Nelson in 2010, when the Dallas native tied for 16th in his first PGA Tour start.
Knapp’s only bogey through the first two rounds was on his 12th hole Friday, the dogleg No. 3, where his drive went into the left rough. But he birdied four of his last six holes, that stretch starting with a 32-foot putt at the par-3, 192-yard fourth hole.
“Obviously, a putt you’re not trying to make,” he said. “Hit it a little bit harder than I would’ve liked and luckily it was on a good line and went in.”
Knapp, who turns 30 on May 31, lost his card on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour before taking the part-time job in the fall of 2021 at the place in Costa Mesa, California, where for nearly nine months he worked Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights — often until 2 or 3 a.m. The former UCLA player would practice and go to the gym in between his work shifts.
He got his third win on PGA Tour Canada in August 2022, and last year earned his PGA Tour card by finishing the season 13th on the Korn Ferry Tour. He won the Mexico Open in his fifth start this season, and his ninth overall, including two as an amateur in 2015.
His PGA Tour biography also touts that he can solve a Rubik’s Cube, loves to work out and would pursue a career in the fitness industry if he wasn’t playing golf.
“Yeah, few interesting ones about me,” Knapp said. “I do my best to, I’m kind of a golf-only guy. Just play a lot of golf and practice a lot. That’s been my focus for the last four, five years.”
At TPC Craig Ranch north of Dallas, Knapp hit 16 of 18 greens each of the first two rounds. He also had the same number of putts (28) both days, though the combined distance of those shots on the greens went from 75 feet on Thursday to 139 feet on Friday.
“For the most part hitting it pretty solid and keeping in the right areas. Made it relatively easy on myself.” Knapp said. “Early on in the year felt like I was putting well, and for the last month or so the stroke felt the same and ball wasn’t going in the hole. ... Nice to see a few more going in.”
Merritt opened his round with consecutive birdies before a three-putt bogey at No. 12, though he got that stroke right back with a 52-foot chip-in at No. 13. He made only his second cut in his past six tournaments, and finished 67th in the other one.
“It’s fantastic, especially when you hit the ball solid and making a lot putts," said Merritt, who is in his 331st PGA Tour event and last won in 2018. “You’re not accidentally there. You’ve actually played well to get there. I haven’t done that. I’ve accidently back-doored a couple top 10s last fall."
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Matt Wallace of England hits an approach shot on the 13th hole during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Jason Day hits from the bunker on the sixth green during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Jordan Spieth stretches to see where his shot from the rough landed on the sixth green during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Jake Knapp waves on the 18th hole during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Jordan Spieth gestures as the gallery applauds his putt on the sixth green during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Kelly Kraft hits an approach shot on the sixth hole during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Jake Knapp putts on the 18th hole during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Matt Wallace of England lines up a putt on the 13th hole during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Jake Knapp lines up a putt on the 18th hole during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
