Dutch record highest solar radiation levels since 1970s

The Netherlands this summer has had the highest amount of solar radiation recorded since 1976, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KMNI) reported.

The “sunny summer fits in with the trend of increasing solar radiation in the Netherlands since the 1990s,” the KMNI added.

The Dutch west coast currently receives 9% more sunshine than the country’s east though solar radiation has increased 3% in summer and 5% in spring, KMNI reported.

This increase, as well as the global rise in temperatures, has led to a ‘warming increase’ in the Netherlands, which, in turn, has led to more evaporation, leading, notably, to extended droughts this summer.

“The current trend of 3% per 10 years will level off in the future because we will have more cloudy summer weather again,” according to KMNI’s estimates.

“In addition to global warming caused by humans, natural variations in the weather continue to have a major impact on solar radiation, drought and temperature in the Netherlands,” it added.

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