Axios

Human-caused climate change has been warming the Arctic nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979, researchers in Finland said in a new study released Thursday in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.

Why it matters: The study indicates that the polar region is warming faster than scientists previously estimated in other studies, which have previously said that the Arctic was warming either twice, more than twice or three times as fast as the planet on average.

This is the summer that climate change impacts are becoming overwhelmingly obvious and costly across much of Europe.

The big picture: Western Europe's fourth region-wide, fierce heat wave of the summer is well underway.

The Perseid meteor shower — typically one of the best of the year — is set to peak this week, but a bright Moon could wash out all but the brightest shooting stars.

The big picture: This meteor shower comes around each year as the Earth passes through the trail of debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle, which was last visible from Earth in 1992.

Drought conditions are affecting about 60% of the EU and the U.K., exacerbated by climate-change driven record heat across Europe this summer, according to new research from the European Drought Observatory.

Why it matters: France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands are facing water shortages and riverbeds are drying out across Europe. Dry conditions are severely affecting energy production, agriculture and river transportation.